Twitter Reactions: Rohit, Bumrah help India gain an unassailable 3-0 lead
Rohit and Dhoni put up an unbeaten partnership of 157 runs with the bat for the fifth wicket and took the team home.
In what was a full house at Pallekele, Team India rode on some splendid performances to seal the fate of the series 3-nil. The hosts have not won a single game on the tour so far and this looks unlikely to change soon. After being whitewashed in the Tests, they run a risk of facing the same in the ODI series as well.
Earlier in the day, it was stand in skipper Chamara Kapugedera who won the toss as Sri Lanka elected to bat first. Dinesh Chandimal and Lahiru Thirimanne were drafted into the playing XI. India had an unchanged XI from their last game.
Batting first, the Sri Lankans weren’t off to a great start. Jasprit Bumrah struck twice as he first got rid of Niroshan Dickwella and later got the better of Kusal Mendis. The duo of Dinesh Chandimal and Lahiru Thirimanne stitched a 72-run partnership for the third wicket to recover the hosts from the early slump.
The likes of Milind Siriwardana and skipper Kapugedera failed to make a difference as the Indian bowlers cashed in as Sri Lanka settled for another odd score of 217/9. Jasprit Bumrah registered his career best figures as he bagged his maiden five-wicket haul in ODIs. The likes of Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel and Kedhar Jadhav also got a wicket each.
On the other hand, India too didn’t have a great start. Men in form Shikhar Dhawan and skipper Virat Kohli, both were dismissed early. Later on, the introduction of Akila Dhananjaya once again worked wonders for Sri Lanka as KL Rahul and Kedhar Jadhav both were dismissed in a quick span.
However, the day belonged to Rohit Sharma. He went on to score an astounding hundred with a magnificent range of shots in his radar. MS Dhoni who has been a messiah down the order continued to hold firm as he too scored a half century. The duo put up an unbeaten partnership of 157 runs with the bat for the fifth wicket.
India were 8 runs short of the target before the match was interrupted as the Sri Lankan fans started throwing bottles on the ground due to frustration. They came back to bat again and ended up winning the game by six wickets. With this win, India gained an unassailable lead with just two matches to go.
Here are some of the amazing Twitter reactions during the course of the game:
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