Spin duo Akila Danajaya and Praveen Jayawickrama took a combined six wickets as Sri Lanka restricted India to a meager 225-run total in the third and final ODI in Colombo on Friday.
Young opener Prithvi Shaw top-scored for the visitors with a run-a-ball 49, with debutant Sanju Samson chipping in with 46 runs from as many deliveries.
Stand-in skipper Shikhar Dhawan (13 from 11) was the first to fall, edging a Dushmantha Chameera delivery to keeper Minod Bhanuka behind the stumps in the third over.
Shaw and Samson then forged a 74-run stand for the second wicket before the former was trapped LBW by skipper Dasun Shanaka, before Jayawickrama sent Samson packing soon after.
The 22-year-old leggie inflicted more misery on Manish Pandey, whose underwhelming show with the bat this series continued with just 11 runs from 19 balls.
There were no significant contributions from any of the other batters, with the hosts picking up wickets in regular intervals to snap India’s momentum.
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Earlier, Looking to complete a 3-0 series whitewash, Indian skipper Shikhar Dhawan won the toss and chose to bat first. Dhawan confirmed six changes for the side, with the visitors having included five debutants in the eleven.
Having wrapped up the three-match series 2-0, the third ODI provides an ideal stage to blood young players and that is exactly what the team management has opted for. India’s debutants include Sanju Samson, Nitish Rana, Chetan Sakariya, Rahul Chahar and Krishnappa Gowtham. Navdeep Saini is the sixth change India have made for the final ODI.
“We are motivated, and we want to finish on a high. With the youngsters coming in, we are really excited and are looking forward,” Dhawan said after winning his first toss as skipper.
Meanwhile, Sri Lanka have made three changes to the side that lost by three wickets on Tuesday. “I think we are on the right track at the moment and winning this is important to go forward,” skipper Dasun Shanaka said.
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The hosts have brought in leg spinner Praveen Jayawickrama, off-spinner Akila Dananjaya and spin all-rounder Ramesh Mendis.
Here are the playing XIs for both teams:
India: Prithvi Shaw, Shikhar Dhawan(c), Sanju Samson(w), Manish Pandey, Suryakumar Yadav, Nitish Rana, Hardik Pandya, Krishnappa Gowtham, Rahul Chahar, Navdeep Saini, Chetan Sakariya
Sri Lanka: Avishka Fernando, Minod Bhanuka(w), Bhanuka Rajapaksa, Dhananjaya de Silva, Charith Asalanka, Dasun Shanaka(c), Ramesh Mendis, Chamika Karunaratne, Akila Dananjaya, Dushmantha Chameera, Praveen Jayawickrama
Apart from playing for pride, Sri Lanka will look to secure 10 crucial points for the ICC ODI World Cup Super League, which will decide qualification to the quadrennial event.
The hosts let a golden opportunity to level the series slip as failed to defend a 276-run target despite reducing India to 193/3 at one stage. Deepak Chahar scored 69 from 82 deliveries, stitching a 84-run stand with Bhuvneshwar Kumar to lead India to an unlikely win.
