It has been an interesting tour of Sri Lanka for the Men in Blue who have trounced the Islanders in both the Test and the ODI series and have made a mockery of them in all departments of the game. They have hardly given any competition and have succumbed meekly to the excessive pressure provided by the visitors.
Barring a sensational spell from Akila Dananjaya in the 2nd ODI, both the batting and the bowling department has failed to gel as a unit, and the visitors have cashed on it big time. Meanwhile, the final ODI of the series is in progress, and Sri Lanka is looking to salvage some of their lost pride by winning the final encounter against a strong Indian side.
The final match also saw the return of their regular limited overs captain Upul Tharanga who served a two match ban due to slow over rate. The southpaw who had a horrendous outing in the test series and the first two ODI’s started proceedings with Niroshan Dickwella. The hosts were jolted early as Bhuvneshwar Kumar removed the man in form Dickwella in the shape of a caught and bowled.
Meanwhile, the captain was looking in a different league altogether and was smashing the Indian bowlers all around Colombo. He smashed nine fours during 34 balls innings of 48 before Jasprit Bumrah removed him. The hosts had already lost three wickets for just 63 runs, and it was time to rebuild.
Angelo Mathews and Lahiru Thirimanne steadied the ship with some sensible batting as both the batsmen looked in good touch. They kept composure and didn’t lose their wickets and kept the scoreboard ticking. After stitching together a valuable partnership, Thirimanne went for an expansive sweep shot.
The bowler was Yuzvendra Chahal, and the ball turned to hit him in the pads. It looked quite adjacent, but in naked eye, it looked the impact could have been outside. After a chat with Dhoni, Kohli went for the review, but the 3rd umpire Paul Reiffel after looking at the replays suggested to the on-field umpire that the ball had struck him outside the line and he could stay with his decision. It was one of those rare times when Dhoni couldn’t quite predict right but it is understandable given the fact he was standing behind the stumps and would have been blinded by the batsman.