Hapless Sri Lanka set a modest target of 218 to win the third One-day International match for formidable India after posting 217 for nine on board in 50 overs, as the top scorer for the hosts was the 27-year-old left-handed batsman Lahiru Thirimanne, who was making his international return after a year-long gap.
The ninth man to go was Dushmantha Chameera (6 off 10), who was well short of his crease when Bhuvneshwar Kumara at the non-strikers ends dislodged the bails after gloveman Mahendra Singh Dhoni threw the ball from behind the stumps.
The 23-year-old Bumrah, who was the protagonist with the ball, took five for 27 in his quota of 10 overs which further the bowler sending down two maiden overs, as Lankans struggling to register a decent score.
Sri Lankan batsmen were trying to rotate the strike-rate, but yet again failed to maintain the scoring rate in the middle overs before late-order batsmen helped the hosts to go past the 200-run mark.
Before being caught in the 40th over, the Lions lost a wicket, as Kedar Jadhav at mid-wicket grabbed an easy catch on the bowling of right-arm fast orthodox bowler Jasprit Bumrah, the middle-order batsman Thirimanne smashed 80 off 105 deliveries, as his steady innings included five boundaries and one maximum.
Bumrah got his maiden five-for after cleaning up left-handed batsman Milinda Siriwardana, who scored 29 off 27 balls.
As the hosts lost wickets at regular intervals, Indian bowlers tightened the grip with the ball to see the Lions further slumping in its own backyard.
On the final delivery of 44th over, the stand-in skipper Chamara Kupugedera was undone by left-arm spinner Axar Patel when he knocked out the leg stump after the former went for inside out short and was completely deceived.
Here is the video of Axar’s wicket:
https://twitter.com/Cricvids1/status/901788250821451776
While trudging off the ground, Kapugedera scored 22-ball 14, as Patel was delighted while shaking his leg to entertain the teammates and eventually the decent crowd in Kandy.
In 46th Over Akila Dananjaya, who was star with the ball on the same ground, was cleaned up by Bumrah when the former’s off stump was knocked out.
After winning the toss stand-in skipper Chamara Kapugedera decided to bat first, as Dinesh Chandimal and Lahiru Thirimanne were called in as the replacements for the remainder of the ODI series which further saw opener Danushka Gunathilaka struggling due to injury and limited-overs Upul Tharanga serving the time two-match ban for the slow over-rate.
Host lost first wicket in the form of wicket-keeper batsman Niroshan Dickwella at the score of 18 in 3.4 overs.
Dickwella was trapped in front of the stumps by Bumrah when he was batting on 13 off 15 balls.
Adding 10 runs for the second wicket, opting for a loose short Kusal Mendis was brilliantly caught by Rohit Sharma at the second slip while leaping to his right in a bid to complete a stunning catch as Bumrah was again the wicket taker, as the ball took the healthy edge of the bat.
Mendis returned to pavilion after scoring a run on 10 deliveries.
Dinesh Chandimal, who rotated the strike alongside Thirimanne added crucial 72 runs for the third wicket, as Chandimal was dismissed in 26th over by Hardik Pandya when Bumrah completed a catch at deep square leg.
Angelo Mathews (11 off 23), who’s struggling with the bat give away his wicket while opting for a reverse sweep before the ball rapped him on the pad.
Mathews straight away asked for a review after talking to his batting partner which further saw the TV replays revealing the ball was hitting straight onto the stumps.