India defeated Sri Lanka by a record 317 runs in the third One-Day International on Sunday, completing a 3-0 sweep of the series. Virat Kohli led the way with an unbeaten 166, his third century in four innings, as India scored 390 for five. Skipper Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill also contributed with 95-run opening stand and Gill’s 116 runs respectively. Sri Lanka’s resistance was quickly ended by Mohammad Siraj’s four wickets in the first ten overs.
Sri Lanka’s team was completely defeated with a score of 73 in 22 overs, highlighting the significant difference in skill between the two teams. This is the largest margin of victory by runs in men’s ODI history.
The game was dominated by Indian captain, Virat Kohli. Last year, the 34-year-old ended a nearly three-year drought of international centuries at the Asia Cup, showing that he is back to his prime form.
Kohli is now only three centuries away from equaling Sachin Tendulkar’s record of 49 ODI hundreds. Kohli’s success rate is impressive, as he reached his 46th century in 259 innings, while Tendulkar needed 452 innings to achieve 49 centuries.
Shubman Gill, the Indian opener, had made several impressive strokes on his way to his second ODI century before Kohli took over. With this performance, he fulfilled the team management’s trust in him, who had chosen him to open instead of Ishan Kishan, who had previously scored a double hundred.
Lahiru Kumara’s 23-run over in the early part of the game set the tone for India’s success. Gill hit four straight boundaries from Kumara, three on the off side and one off a full delivery, after Rohit flicked him for a six over deep midwicket.
Rohit Sharma was also performing well on the other end, but was unfortunately called out during play while attempting one of his signature shots. He and Kohli then formed a 131-run partnership, unfazed by the Sri Lankan spinners. Kohli began the innings with a series of boundaries before accumulating runs through his exceptional running between the wickets. One of his eight sixes came in the 1980s, and it was a mishit over long on that made him laugh.
He reached 99 after colliding with Ashen Bandara and Jeffrey Vandersay, who were both sprinting towards the ball from deep square leg and deep midwicket, respectively. Both fielders had to be stretchered off the field.
Sri Lanka never posed a real threat in their chase after India’s massive score. In the second over of the game, Siraj caught Avishka Fernando at widish slip. Following that, it was a parade, with Siraj running through the top order.
India registers its largest-ever ODI victory, defeating Sri Lanka by 317 runs.
