In Stats: Bumrah, Rohit & Dhoni Star in Series-Clinching Win
Rohit Sharma and MS Dhoni’s 157-run partnership guided India to victory in the third ODI.
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India took an unbeatable 3-0 lead in the 5-match ODI series after they clinched the 3rd ODI in Pallekele by 6 wickets. The win, which followed the wins in the first two matches, was set up by Jasprit Bumrah’s maiden 5-wicket haul in ODIs.
Bumrah’s 5-27 helped restrict the hosts to a modest 217-9, after which Rohit Sharma anchored the chase, scoring his 12th ODI hundred in the process. MS Dhoni contributed to the win, stitching together an unbeaten 157-run partnership with Rohit. India got across the line with 4.5 overs to spare.
With this win, India have now won the six consecutive international matches on this tour; Virat Kohli’s lads clinched the Test series 3-0 and are now three-zilch up in this series. The Indian team have also been victorious in each of the last four ODI series they’ve played in Sri Lanka.
This result also pushes Sri Lanka into a corner with regard to their automatic qualification for the ODI World Cup 2019. According to the ICC ratings, Sri Lanka had to win at least two matches in this ODI series to stay among the top 8 teams who gain automatic qualification for the WC2019. Now, they have to win both the remaining games.
Bumrah Derails Sri Lanka
In the afternoon, Chamara Kapugdera – the 20th man to captain Sri Lanka in ODIs – won the toss and decided to give his batsmen the opportunity to set a target. But things didn’t quite go to plan as Jasprit Bumrah struck twice early on – in his second and fourth over – to reduce the hosts to 28 for 2; Bumrah first had opener Niroshan Dickwella leg before wicket with a searing yorker, and then found the outside edge of Kusal Mendis’ bat which was snapped up by Rohit Sharma in the slip-cordon.
Bumrah was excellent in his first spell; there was nothing loose on offer and the Sri Lankan batsmen could hardly score off him in the five-over spell.
Sri Lanka then consolidated; Dinesh Chandimal (opening the innings in an ODI for the first time in five years) and Lahiru Thirimanne stitched together a 72-run partnership to put the innings back on track. But that partnership was broken when the former miscued a pull shot off Hardik Pandya; Bumrah played a part in that dismissal too, this time pouching the catch in the outfield.
From 100 for 2 at one stage, the hosts lost 7 wickets for 110 runs and barely managed to bat out the allotted overs. Sri Lanka finished their 50 overs at 217-9. Bumrah played a major role in cleaning up the middle-and-lower order; his third success of the night was that of the well-set (and eventual innings top-scorer) Lahiru Thirimanne, who was caught at midwicket. He returned for a third spell to dismiss Akila Dananjaya and Milinda Siriwardana, to collect his maiden 5-wicket haul in ODIs.
Bumrah now has 37 wickets in 19 ODI appearances for India. Only two other Indian bowlers – Ajit Agarkar and Irfan Pathan – had more wickets than Bumrah after 19 ODIs.
While those numbers by themselves illustrate that Bumrah is a wicket-taker, here’s a closer look at the returns in his 19 ODIs so far. The 23-year old from Ahmedabad has almost always given a good account of himself and generally returned wickets every time he has taken the field. In his brief career so far, he has gone wicketless on only four occasions – and only one of those four wicketless-spells was a complete 10-over spell.
Hitman Gets Another Ton Against Sri Lanka
Rohit Sharma dominated India’s run-chase, scoring his 12th ODI hundred – 10 of those three-figure scores coming since his move up the order. At the time when he generally batted in the middle-order – which is from his debut in 2007 until 2012 – Rohit averaged 30.43 with just 2 hundreds in 81 innings. Since his elevation to regular opener at the start of 2013, he averages 55.98 and has scored 10 hundreds in 74 innings.
Dhoni Remains Not Out… Yet Again
India’s chase stuttered momentarily – 61 for 2 became 61 for 4 when KL Rahul and Kedar Jadhav were dismissed in the space of 9 deliveries. MS Dhoni then joined Rohit, and the fifth wicket pair saw the team home; they were involved in an unbeaten 157-run partnership – the highest partnership by a visiting team in ODIs in Pallekele.