The shockingly clueless Indian batting unit was strangled by wily Sri Lankan spinners, led by five-wicket man Dunith Wellalage, as Rohit Sharma's men suffered an embarrassing 110-run defeat in the third and final ODI in Colombo on Wednesday. Sri Lanka won the three-match series 2-0 after the first match ended in a draw, and this is the Islanders' first bilateral ODI series win over India since 1997. Chasing a competitive 249 off a sharp turner from Premadasa, India were bowled out for a dismal 138 in 26.1 overs, and new head coach Gautam Gambhir will have some tough points to ponder at the start of his stint.
Left-arm spinner Wellalage, who has so far hurt India with the bat, opted to crush the visitors with the ball, taking five for 27 after opener Avishka Fernando made a quickfire 96 to take Lanka to 248 for seven.
However, India got off to a good start despite the early departure of Shubman Gill, thanks to Rohit Sharma's breakneck 35 off 20 balls, including an 18-run over from Maheesh Theekshana.
The runs came in a series of 6, 4, 4, 4 in the fourth over of the innings.
But sweep, one of Rohit's favourite shots, was the undoing of the Indian captain as his attempt to clear it off Wellalage ended up in the hands of Kusal Mendis behind the stumps.
As Rohit retreated, the rest of the Indian batters were thrown into a maelstrom of confusion.
Virat Kohli (20) played out of turn when there was no turn and was considered leg ahead of Wellalage.
Rishabh Pant, playing his first ODI after his comeback from that horrific car accident, trotted down the track and was beaten in the air by Theekshana, only to be eventually beaten by Kusal.
Riyan Parag, making his ODI debut as a replacement for Arshdeep Singh, was denied a direct pass from leg-spinner Jeffrey Vandersay and was subsequently bowled.
Meanwhile, Shreyas Iyer also lost to Wellalage, taking the total number of lbws and clean bowled dismissals in this Indian innings to seven. No other statistic can give a clearer picture of the confused Indian minds than this.
“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,” Theekshana's post-match comments on TV regarding the courts used during the ODI World Cup were like rubbing salt in the wound.
Before their spinners troubled the Indian batters, Lanka managed to get through the Indian bowling through opener Avishka Fernando (96, 102 balls, 9×4, 2×6) and Kusal (59, 82b, 4×4).
India managed to save themselves thanks to a superb run of offspin from Parag (3/54), but apart from Kuldeep Yadav (1/36), he got no real help.
Fernando's knock kept the home side in check during the most assured period of batting so far in this series, before Parag produced a famous mid-innings collapse on a pitch where the order of the order increased from the middle of the Sri Lankan innings.
But that did not detract from Fernando's effort, who formed two good combinations: an 89 for the opening wicket with Pathum Nissanka (45, 65b, 5×4, 2×6) and an 82 with Kusal for the second wicket.
Nissanka was often as aggressive as his teammate, as was evident from the two heavy sixes he hit off left-arm spinner Axar Patel.
But the blossoming display was abruptly cut short by Axar when Nissanka smashed a wide ball into the hands of Pant.
Lanka maintained their lead over India thanks to the partnership between Fernando and Kusal, with Lanka being the enforcer.
Fernando spoiled the figures of Mohammed Siraj (1/65 in 8 overs), who was unusually erratic in his line and length.
The right-handed Lankan bowler enjoyed Siraj's extra speed, which enabled him to hit his best pull shot twice in succession and strike the Indian for six.
But just as he was close to reaching his fourth ODI hundred, Fernando missed a slipping legbreak from Parag and was caught before the wicket.
At 171 for two in the 36th over, Lanka had an excellent base to push for a total of 280 or more.
But Parag took off captain Charith Asalanka (10), who had been caught in a leg earlier, and Wellalage (2), leaving Lanka with no momentum going into the final over.
But Kusal and Kamindu Mendis added 36 runs for the seventh wicket to put the match well beyond India's reach.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by DailyExpertNews staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
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