IND vs SL 2022-23, 3rd ODI: Fans ecstatic as Kohli, Gill, Siraj hand India clean sweep with record 317-run win

Former Indian skipper and top-order batter Virat Kohli lit up the dead rubber with an epic unbeaten 166, his third century in four innings, as India smashed an oblivious Sri Lanka with a record 317-run win in the third and final One-Day International (ODI) to sweep the series at Greenfield International Stadium in Thiruvananthapuram on Sunday. Skipper Rohit Sharma (42 off 49) and Shubman Gill (116 off 97) shared a fluent 95-run opening stand before Kohli (166 not out off 110) pushed India to a daunting 390/5 with his 74th international century and 46th in the 50-over format.

Sri Lanka succumbed to the high-quality fast bowling of seamer Mohammed Siraj, who struck four times inside the ten overs to shut the door on the opposition. Lanka was all out for a scant 73 in 22 overs, highlighting the gulf between the two teams. It was the most considerable margin of victory by runs in the history of men's ODIs.

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The night well and truly belonged to King Kohli. The 34-year-old, who had ended a nearly three-year wait for an international hundred in the Asia Cup last year in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), showed that he is back to his best. Kohli is now only three short of equalling legendary Master Blaster Sachin Tendulkar's record of 49 ODI tons. Kohli's conversion ratio is remarkable as he got to his 46th ton in 259 innings, while Tendulkar had taken 452 innings to get to 49 hundreds.

Before Kohli took over, Gill had played some high-quality strokes en route to his second ODI century. With that effort, he repaid the team management's faith, which had picked him to open ahead of young wicketkeeper-opener Ishan Kishan, who came into the series with a double hundred under his belt.

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The 23-run over from Lahiru Kumara in the initial stage of the innings got India going. After Rohit flicked him for a six over deep mid-wicket, Gill collected four straight boundaries off Kumara, three on the off-side, and one was a leg-side flick off a full toss. Rohit looked good at the other end but got out against the run of play while trying one of his signature shots, the front foot pull.

Gill and Kohli then shared a 131-run stand in which they were hardly troubled by the Sri Lankan bowlers. Kohli began the innings with a flurry of boundaries before getting runs with his excellent running between the wickets. His first of his eight sixes came in the 80s, and it was a mishit over long-on, leaving him in a peal of laughter.

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Kohli got to 99 with a boundary following a collision with Ashen Bandara and Jeffrey Vandersay, running towards the ball from deep square leg and deep midwicket. Both the fielders have eventually stretchered off the field. The last ten overs saw India smashing 116 runs, with Kohli going ballistic after his century. It was raining sixes from his bat post the milestone, and one over long on had shades of legendary former Indian skipper MS Dhoni's helicopter shot that left Kohli with a big smile. Most of his maximums came in the cow corner region.

In response to India's mammoth total, Sri Lanka never really turned up in the chase. Siraj had Avishka Fernando caught at widish slip in the second over of the innings. It was a procession after that, with Siraj running through the top order. Fellow seamer Mohammed Shami and chinaman wrist spinner Kuldeep Yadav chipped in with a couple of wickets each.

(With inputs from PTI)