Wellalage's 5-wicket haul fires Sri Lanka to 110-run win over India, secures 1st ODI series victory since 1997

In a stunning display of spin dominance, Sri Lanka’s bowlers, spearheaded by Dunith Wellalage’s five-wicket haul, dismantled the Indian batting lineup, leading to a disheartening 110-run defeat for Rohit Sharma’s team in the third ODI in Colombo on Wednesday.

Sri Lanka clinched the three-match series 2-0, marking their first bilateral ODI series win over India since 1997, following a tie in the series opener.

Set a challenging target of 249 on a spin-friendly track at Premadasa, India faltered dramatically, being bowled out for just 138 in 26.1 overs. The new head coach, Gautam Gambhir, will have several pressing issues to address as he begins his tenure.

Left-arm spinner Dunith Wellalage, who had already made an impact with the bat, inflicted further damage with the ball, claiming five wickets for 27 runs as India succumbed to Sri Lanka's bowling. This came after opener Avishka Fernando’s well-crafted 96 guided Sri Lanka to a total of 248 for seven.

India’s chase started promisingly despite the early loss of Shubman Gill, thanks to Rohit Sharma’s rapid 35 off 20 balls. Sharma’s aggressive batting included a pivotal 18-run over against Maheesh Theekshana, with a series of boundaries—6, 4, 4, 4—in the fourth over setting the tone.

However, Rohit Sharma’s preferred sweep shot led to his downfall. Attempting the shot against Wellalage, Sharma’s sweep was caught by Kusal Mendis behind the stumps.

With Rohit’s departure, the Indian batting order spiraled into disarray. Virat Kohli, scoring 20, misjudged the turn and was dismissed leg before wicket by Wellalage.

Rishabh Pant, making his ODI return after a severe car accident, ventured down the track but was outfoxed in the air by Theekshana and subsequently stumped by Kusal Mendis.

Riyan Parag, who made his ODI debut in place of Arshdeep Singh, failed to offer a shot to a straight delivery from leg-spinner Jeffrey Vandersay and was bowled out.

In addition, Shreyas Iyer was dismissed leg before wicket by Wellalage. The total of seven dismissals by lbw and clean bowled during this innings highlights the confusion and struggles of the Indian batting lineup, offering a stark illustration of their disarray.

In his post-match TV comments, Maheesh Theekshana remarked, "We knew they are used to small grounds and good wickets in India. So they would struggle on a big Premadasa ground. We knew we could get an advantage with some turn on the wicket, and we have good spinners."

Before Sri Lanka's spinners put the Indian batsmen in a tight spot, they had already navigated through the Indian bowling attack thanks to solid performances from opener Avishka Fernando (96 off 102 balls, including 9 fours and 2 sixes) and Kusal (59 off 82 balls, with 4 fours).

India struggled against a superb spell of off-spin from Parag (3/54), with only Kuldeep Yadav (1/36) offering some resistance.

Fernando’s innings was the backbone of Sri Lanka's most confident batting phase in the series. However, Parag’s spell triggered a familiar mid-innings collapse, as the pitch began to offer increasing turn midway through the Sri Lankan innings.

Fernando's efforts were deserving of high praise despite the overall game dynamics. He forged two significant partnerships: an 89-run stand for the opening wicket with Pathum Nissanka (45 off 65 balls, including 5 fours and 2 sixes) and an 82-run stand with Kusal for the second wicket.

Nissanka matched Fernando’s aggression, hitting two sixes off left-arm spinner Axar Patel with powerful slog sweeps. However, their promising partnership was broken when Axar Patel had Nissanka caught by Pant off a wide delivery.

Throughout the Fernando-Kusal partnership, Sri Lanka maintained their advantage over India, with Fernando playing a pivotal role as the primary aggressor.

Fernando took advantage of Mohammed Siraj’s off day, who delivered a wayward performance with figures of 1/65 in 8 overs. The extra pace from Siraj allowed Fernando to showcase his signature pull shot, hitting two consecutive sixes.

Just as Fernando was nearing his fourth ODI century, he was undone by a skiddy leg-break from Parag and was trapped in front of the wicket.

At 171 for two in the 36th over, Sri Lanka was well-positioned to target a total of around 280 or more. However, Parag struck by dismissing skipper Charith Asalanka (10), who was out leg before, and Wellalage (2), stalling Sri Lanka’s late-order momentum.

Despite this, Kusal and Kamindu Mendis contributed 36 runs for the seventh wicket, extending Sri Lanka's lead and pushing the match well beyond India's reach.