Spinners script record as Sri Lanka end 27-year-long wait with memorable series win

Led by Dunith Wellalage's five-wicket haul, Sri Lanka produced a memorable performance to beat India 2-0 in the ODI series.
Sri Lanka produced another dominant performance with the ball to beat India comprehensively in the third and final ODI to complete a 2-0 series win, their first over India since 1997.

After 27 years of not beating India in an ODI series, the hosts produced some extraordinary cricket to prevent the visitors from winning a single game.

The first match ended in a tie after a strong comeback from India, but there were no such let-ups in the following games as Sri Lanka's spinners took 27 out of the 30 India wickets to fall during the series.

Sri Lanka captain Charith Asalanka was thrilled with the performance of his side and paid a special tribute to the efforts of his spin bowlers.

"The biggest positive was winning a series against India after 27 years," Asalanka said.

"The other big positive were the spinners. We had relied on Wanindu Hasaranga, but we've had (Jeffrey) Vandersay and Dunith playing well here too."

Asalanka was pleased with the way Sri Lanka rebounded from the T20I series against India when they were swept 3-0 and believes his side is starting to show more maturity.

"As a team, we tried to create a good environment, after talking to the coach," Asalanka said.

"We tried to give a lot of freedom to our players and to show their talent. We don't put much pressure on them. We identify what the positives and negatives are and we back their strength. If they fail it's not a problem. If you have that backing you can play against a good team like this. In the T20s though we lost there were positives in our top order. I knew as a captain that when we play to our potential, we can compete against the best."

India skipper Rohit Sharma was disappointed with his side's performance and especially with the way the batters fell to Sri Lanka's impressive spin attack.

"I don't think it's a concern," Rohit said.

"But it's something we need to look at seriously, into our individual game plans. We were definitely put under pressure throughout the series. We need to look into it, do something differently, need to talk about it and come back with different plans."

India don't play another ODI until early in the new year and Rohit is hoping for a response from his team prior to the ICC Champions Trophy tournament in February.

"A series loss doesn't mean the end of the world," Rohit said.

"These guys have been playing good cricket for the past few years. Yes, we will lose a one-off series here and there, what's important is how we move on from this and how we can come back."

Avishka Fernando had led Sri Lanka's charge early on in the third ODI with a 102-ball 96 and Kusal Mendis continued the good work through until the final overs with a half-century.

The hosts set the biggest target in the series thus far as the batters did their part of the job to perfection.

India's batting, which had collapsed from 75/0 to 132/5 (in the first ODI) and 97/0 to 147/6, continued to struggle against spin. They were reduced to 63/3 in the first 10 overs before Wellalage removed Virat Kohli, Axar Patel and Shreyas Iyer in quick succession to make it 82/6.

With 27 wickets for the series, the Sri Lankan spinners posed the biggest threat for India. This is the most number of wickets India have lost to spinners in a bilateral ODI series. The previous highest was the 19 they had lost to Pakistan back in 1996.

This is also the most wickets Sri Lankan spinners have taken in a bilateral ODI series of no more than three games.

In fact, the 43 wickets that fell to spin in this series are the most in a bilateral series of three matches or fewer.

Jeffrey Vandersay, Wellalage and Charith Asalanka led the show with the ball for Sri Lanka, topping the wickets chart. Vandersay produced the best figures in the series with a six-wicket haul in the second ODI.

Wellalage, who was a star at the ICC Men's U19 Cricket World Cup 2022, shone brightly with a five-wicket haul on Wednesday in the third and final game.

Despite the absence of their star spinner Wanindu Hasaranga in the final two matches, Sri Lanka were at their best through the middle overs, choking the run-flow and picking up regular wickets.