Sri Lanka Won ODI Series Against India After 27 Years

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Sri Lanka Won ODI Series

The Sri Lankan cricket team led by Charith Asalanka secured a historical victory against Team India by 110 runs in the last clash of the 3-match ODI series on 7th August 2024 at R. Premadasa Stadium in Colombo. Since 1997, it was the first bilateral ODI series win for Sri Lanka over India.

Mainly, the Indian cricket team’s batting failure in all three matches resulted in Sri Lanka winning the series by 2-0, which included a tied game as well. Except for the Indian skipper Rohit Sharma, the rest of the batting unit has shown a lack of intent to chase targets. Although Riyan Parag made an impressive debut with the ball, he couldn’t make use of the opportunity with the bat during a crucial run chase.

Pathum Nissanka, Avishka Fernando, and Kusal Mendis delivered crucial contributions with the bat to steer Sri Lanka to a total of 248-7 in 50 overs. Additionally, Dunith Wellalage’s 5-wicket haul wrapped up India’s innings to just 138 runs in 26.1 overs. It was the spin bowlers from both teams that completely dominated the show.

But, Asalanka’s decision to bat first after winning the toss left the Indian batters trapped to the spin bowling attack in the 2nd innings. Shockingly, India lost the 2nd most number of wickets against Sri Lanka in the history of ODI cricket and all the instances have occurred in Colombo.

It was a great start for Suryakumar Yadav and Gautam Gambhir’s era in T20 Internationals (T20Is). In contrast, Gambhir wasn’t able to replicate the success of pairing with Rohit Sharma in One Day Internationals (ODIs).

Let’s find out how Sri Lanka dismantled the Indian batting line-up to conclude their 27-year drought period of winning a bilateral series.

How did Sri Lanka conclude their Long Wait for an ODI Series Win Against India? SL vs IND 3rd Match ODI Highlights

Despite an in-depth batting line-up, India wasn’t able to build consistent partnerships and kept on losing wickets against the Sri Lankan spin bowlers. Here are the important highlights of the match you need to know:

1. Nissanka- Fernando’s Strong Opening Partnership:  

The Sri Lankan opening batters Pathum Nissanka and Avishka Fernando stitched an 89-run opening partnership and kept Indian bowlers in the hunt for wickets in the initial stages. Nissanka’s 65-ball-45-run knock (including 5 fours and 2 sixes) and Fernando’s blistering performance of 102-ball-96-runs (including 9 fours and 2 sixes)  helped Sri Lanka reach 89 runs in 20 overs.

2. Kusal Mendis Anchors the Team’s Innings with a Steady Half-Century:

Despite the quick fall of wickets, Kusal Mendis delivered a composed performance by scoring 59 runs from 82 balls (including 4 fours). Also, he maintained an 82-run partnership with Avishka Fernando, after the dismissal of Pathum Nissanka.

3. Riyan Parag’s Stunning Debut with the Ball:

Indian all-rounder Riyan Parag was the leading wicket-taker for his side, taking 3 wickets and conceding just 54 runs in 9 overs.

4. Mohammed Siraj: Expensive Bowler

Indian pacer Mohammed Siraj bowled one of the most expensive spells in ODIs by conceding 78 runs in 9 overs and took just a single wicket.

5. Dunith Wellalage’s 5-fer:

Sri Lankan spin bowling all-rounder Dunith Wellalage grabbed 5 crucial wickets of these Indian batters by conceding just 27 runs in 5.1 overs:

  • Rohit Sharma (At 53-2 in 7.1 overs): 35 runs from 20 balls (including 6 fours and 1 six).
  • Virat Kohli (At 71-4 in 10.5 overs): 20 runs from 18 balls (including 4 fours).
  • Axar Patel (At 73-5 in 12.1 overs): 2 runs from 7 balls. 
  • Shreyas Iyer (At 82-6 in 12.5 overs): 8 runs from 7 balls (including 2 fours).
  • Kuldeep Yadav (At 138-10 in 26.1 overs): 6 runs from 30 balls.

6. Lack of Intent from Other Batters To Chase Targets:

As usual, Rohit Sharma continued with his form, but Shubman Gill once again continued to struggle in scoring runs and was bowled out by Asitha Fernando scoring just 6 runs from 14 balls.

When the scoreboard was at 82-6 in 13 overs; Shivam Dube and Riyan Parag attempted to continue the partnership by helping India cross the 100-run-mark. But, the duo batters weren’t able to perform against the spinners who were maintaining impressive line and length.  

Even, Washington Sundar wasn’t able to maintain his presence on the crease for a longer time. He departed after scoring 30 runs from 25 balls (including 2 fours and 3 sixes).

Notably, India lost 3 quick wickets of Virat Kohli, Axar Patel, and Shreyas Iyer within 20 runs and were trapped for 82-6 by the completion of the 13th over.

India Registers Embarrassing Records After ODI Series Loss Against Sri Lanka in 2024

After losing the 3-match ODI series against Sri Lanka, the Indian cricket team under Gautam Gambhir’s era added faces insulting records listed below:

1. First Spinner to Take 5 ODI Wickets Against India:

Sri Lanka’s Dunith Wellalage becomes the first spinner in ODIs to take 5 wickets against India in more than one match in Colombo as listed below:

  • Asia Cup 2023 Super Fours 4th Match: 5-40 in 10 overs
  • 3 out of 3 ODI Match Series 2024: 5-27 in 5.1 overs

2. Most Wickets Lost to Spin Bowling:

Shockingly, India lost 9 wickets in the recently concluded ODI match against Sri Lankan spinners. Here are the previous instances where the men-in-blue lost most wickets to the opponent team’s spin bowling attack at the same venue:

  • 10 wickets vs Sri Lanka in Asia Cup 2023.
  • 9 wickets vs Sri Lanka in 2nd out of 3rd ODI match.

3. Teams Losing Most Wickets to Spin Bowling in a Series:

Unexpectedly, India faces a record of losing 27 out of 30 wickets to spin bowlers in a series; which is the most by any team in a 3-match ODI series. This includes giving up 9 wickets per innings in 3 matches against spinners.

Conclusion:

Unfortunately, Team India concluded its last ODI series of this year on a disappointing note and has only 3 more upcoming ODI matches in the home series against England in January 2025 before they enter the next edition of the Champions Trophy.

In the case of Sri Lanka, they faced a complete sweep loss in the 3-match T20I series but bounced back to claim a thumping victory in ODIs with 2-0. Finally, after this loss, the cricket world is left questioning whether the Rohit-Gambhir pair can live upto the hype of the Rohit-Dravid pair, which won the Asia Cup 2023 and T20 World Cup 2024 as the dominant team in international cricket.