India suffered a humiliating defeat by 110 runs against Sri Lanka in the third and final ODI of the three-match series on Wednesday (August 7). In the match played at R. Premadasa Stadium in Colombo, the world No. 1 ODI team India could only manage to score 138 runs in reply to Sri Lanka’s total of 248 runs. Rohit Sharma top-scored for India again, but his 20-ball-35 wasn’t enough to help India get the better of Sri Lanka for the third match in a row.
India’s 110-run loss in the third ODI added Rohit’s name to an unwanted list. The 37-year-old right-handed batter became only the third Indian captain in history to lose an ODI bilateral series against Sri Lanka. Mohammad Azharuddin was the first Indian to lose an ODI series against Sri Lanka as captain. Under his leadership, India went down by a margin of 1-2 against the Islanders in 1993. Sachin Tendulkar joined Azhar on the list during the 1997 series, which India lost by a margin of 0-3.
Since 1997, India has never lost a bilateral ODI series against Sri Lanka, but the 27-year-old streak finally ended on Wednesday.
After the first ODI between India and Sri Lanka on August 2 finished on level terms and Sri Lanka’s win by 32 runs in the 2nd ODI on Sunday, India needed nothing less than a win to avoid a series defeat, but Rohit’s men failed to achieve the objective.
21-year-old spin-bowling all-rounder Dunith Wellalage picked up five wickets for 27 runs in 5.1 overs to help Charith Asalanka’s men create history. He accounted for the dismissals of Rohit, Virat Kohli, Axar Patel, Shreyas Iyer, and Kuldeep Yadav.
The five-wicket haul in Colombo also helped Wellalage become the first Sri Lankan cricketer to take two five-wicket hauls in ODIs against India. Before his career-best bowling show in the third ODI, Wellalage picked up five wickets for 40 runs against India during the Asia Cup 2023 match played between the two teams in Colombo on September 12, 2023.
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