Sri Lanka v India, 5th ODI – 5 Talking Points

Another chase, another Kohli hundred. This has been a familiar pattern for India for the last five years. As it was seemingly expected, India whitewashed Sri Lanka 5-0 in the ODI series. With just a solitary T20 left on the 47-day tour of the Island nation, Sri Lanka are more than likely to finish the series winless.

Sri Lanka opted to bat first on a used R.Premadasa wicket in Colombo. The returning Tharanga, who is also the ODI captain, opened the innings after batting in the middle order for 7 straight innings. The hosts yet again frittered a decent foundation to be bowled out for 238 runs. In all 5 games, Sri Lanka has failed to get a score in excess of 250.

India romped home comfortably by 6 wickets. In the process, Kohli became just the third player in the history of ODIs to get 30 hundreds. He draws level with Ricky Ponting and behind only Sachin Tendulkar in the all-time list of century makers in ODIs. Kedar Jadhav sizzled with a half century after two low scores in the series. India used this series well by blooding in young players in quest of identifying the right combination ahead of the World Cup in 2019.

We bring you to the 5 Talking points of the final ODI in Colombo:

1) Tharanga cameo puts India under pressure early

After serving a two-match ban, his second in a span of three months, Upul Tharanga returned to the side. He also returned to the familiar position of opening the innings alongside Niroshan Dickwella. While Dickwella was making his way back to the pavilion early, Tharanga looked in sublime touch. Despite the fall of two early wickets, Tharanga played his shots in a quest to remain aggressive. He used the pull and the cut to good effect during his 34-ball 48. Just when the 32-year old looked set for a big one, Jasprit Bumrah – called by Kohli early in the innings to get him a wicket – bowled a peach to send the Sri Lankan skipper back to the hut.

2) Thirimanne-Mathews rally to keep Sri Lanka afloat

At 63 for 3 in the tenth over, a Sri Lankan collapse was on the cards that’s when Thirimanne and Mathews joined hands. Both were dogged in their approach and wanted to bat for a long duration of time. The duo added 122 runs for the fourth wicket – the home side’s first 100-run partnership in this series. Former skipper Mathews and Thirimanne soon got to their respective half-centuries but soon fell within quick succession to mark another collapse for the home side. From being in a comfortable position of 185 for 3 in the 39th over, the hosts had a great opportunity to get 275 runs on the board.

3) Bhuvneshwar Kumar runs through Sri Lankan batting

Cricket is a very funny game. Bhuvneshwar Kumar failed to scalp a single wicket in three ODIs in the series but ended up with career best figures of 5/42 in the final game. It wasn’t his best bowling performance in the series but he used his variations smartly to pick a maiden ODI 5-wicket haul. With the new ball, the right-arm bowler struck twice to reduce the hosts to 40/2. When Thirimanne and Mathews were going strong, Kohli turned to Bhuvi to break the partnership. The 27-year old struck on his fifth ball of his second spell, castling Thirimanne. Known as a slog overs specialist these days, Bhuvneshwar went on to pick 2 more wickets to bowl Sri Lanka out in the final over of the innings.

4) Kohli anchors India yet again

Virat Kohli shepherded the chase for the umpteenth time in his ODI career. India were in a peculiar spot when Rohit Sharma was caught brilliantly at short fine leg. At 29 for 2, Kohli added 99 runs with Manish Pandey (36) for the third wicket to get India’s chase back on track. He was associated with Kedar Jadhav (63) in a 109-run partnership which sealed the game for India. He paced his innings brilliantly, mixing caution with aggression during various phases of his innings. Running between the wickets is an important facet in Kohli’s game and it showed in Colombo. 74 out of his unbeaten knock of 110 came by running hard between the wickets. The 28-year old struck 9 fours during his 116-ball stay at the crease.

5) India becomes first team to whitewash Sri Lanka at home

India had a mini scare when they found themselves reeling at 131 for 7 chasing 231 in the second ODI. This was the only time they looked like losing a game during the series but Dhoni and Bhuvi got them out of the woods with a remarkable 8th wicket stand of 100 runs. India made history by becoming the first team to whitewash Sri Lanka at home in ODIs. Apart from the second game, they were flawless throughout the series with both bat and ball They never allowed the hosts to get past 238 runs in 5 games which is a hallmark of a good bowling unit.