Player of the Match
Player of the Match

8.48pm Asalanka picks up the trophy and goes over to his team-mates for photographs. We'll leave you with those scenes, and hope that you enjoyed our coverage. Until next time, it's goodbye from me, Madushka and Binoy.

Charith Asalanka: "I'm a happy captain right now, and I think the team did all the things well throughout the series. We all knew they are a very strong batting line-up and we just wanted to back our strength, which is spin bowling. Yes, the batters struggled a bit but if you want to win a series you need to do things like this [prepare tough pitches]. We are in a really good mood right now, especially our coach. He made a few changes in the team, and the boys really enjoyed the team environment."

Rohit Sharma: "[India playing spin:] I don't think it's a concern, but it's something we need to look at seriously, our individual gameplans, and it's something we were definitely put under pressure with in this series. [Complacency after winning the T20 World Cup:] No, it's a joke. When you're playing for India, there's no complacency. We have to give credit where credit is due, Sri Lanka played better than us. We looked at the conditions, wanted to take pace off the ball, and that's why we went with our combination. All in all we didn't play good cricket through the series, and that is why we stand here. Throughout there were a few positives too. How the spinners bowled, some of the batters in the middle as well. We lost the series, and I feel there are a lot of areas we need to look at rather than the positives. We need to go back and look at what we need to do when we come up against conditions like this. Series lost doesn't mean the end of the world. These guys have been playing very well over the past few years, very consistent, you will lose the odd series."

Dunith Wellalage, Player of the Series: "First of all I want to thank my skipper and my teammates, coaching staff, everyone gave me great support. The wicket is turning, so we adjusted to the wicket. The wicket today was the same, we made less mistakes today. Avishka Fernando and Kusal Mendis batted really well, and Jeffrey Vandersay, myself and Maheesh Theekshana did really well with the ball."

Presentation time. First up, it's the Player of the Match, Avishka Fernando (translated by Roshan Abeysinghe): "Very happy about the innings. The surface was tough, but the batsmen got together and did the job. Sad about missing out on the hundred, but happy to have won."

Wondering what India's up to tomorrow in the Olympics? There's the hockey bronze match where India play Spain, and Neeraj Chopra is out to defend his gold. You can find out exactly when right here.

Maheesh Theekshana: "It's a confidence-booster. The team was disappointed after the T20s, and we had extra motivation and it's a huge victory for us and I'm really proud I was part of the XI. We knew they are used to small grounds and good wickets in India. We knew we could get an advantage with some turn on the wicket, and we have good spinners. Really happy about the victory, and it's a huge confidence-booster."

FAZMIL: "Wellalage not born even, when Srilanka won the one day series against India last time (27 years Back)"

Mustafa Moudi: "Rohit Sharma, yet again, was the top scorer of India tonight and with this he remains the Top Scorer of Team India in all the ODIs. This shows that he was consistent, but nobody supported him. Poor Captain was Left all alone !!" -- I would say he tried to maximise the best batting conditions (new ball, field restrictions, a bit of fast bowling) and did that brilliantly, and the others batted in very different circumstances and struggled like most batters would.

Vicky : "Did you feel there is artificial pressure to score boundaries even though it is not needed in today's modern cricket?" -- Possibly, but on these pitches it's sometimes easier to find the odd boundary than to keep the strike rotating consistently.

Ashish: "I wish this win brings good changes for SL team but don't say this "with a bit of help from the conditions". It was a lot of help and lot of luck going with 3 tosses won."

8.19pm It happened so quickly. India are bowled out in just 26.1 overs. Huge win for Sri Lanka, and hopefully a stepping stone to even bigger things, even if they won't be at the Champions Trophy next year. This is a really, really strong team with a bit of help from the conditions, and they're good even otherwise - remember that they're missing a number of their main fast bowlers. A tough series for India. They were up against it, losing three tosses and chasing three times in these conditions, and in the first two games they made things more difficult for themselves by not picking enough spinners. They picked four today, though, and Sri Lanka have picked up their biggest win of the series.

26.1
W
Wellalage to Kuldeep Yadav, OUT, and there's the fifth! And there is Sri Lanka's first bilateral ODI series win over India since August 1997! Tossed up, angling across, and it either skids on with the angle after pitching within the stumps or straightens ever so slightly. Goes hard at the sweep, and it turns in to beat him and strike his back leg. Given out, and India have no reviews left. Kuldeep was unlucky there. That didn't turn back enough to hit off stump, going by replays.

Kuldeep Yadav lbw b Wellalage 6 (33m 30b 0x4 0x6) SR: 20.00

Hello again. What's been happening since I last saw you guys? Here's Siraj at No. 11. Walks in looking dapper with cap on and collar up. Classic Hyderabad batsmanship. It's Kuldeep on strike though, as Wellalage comes back on, looking for his fifth. Round the wicket to the left-hander.

END OF OVER:
26 | 1 Run 1 Wkt | IND: 138/9 (111 runs required from 24 overs, RR: 5.30, RRR: 4.62)

  • Kuldeep Yadav6 (29b)
  • Maheesh Theekshana8-0-45-2
  • Charith Asalanka3-1-2-0

And with that I'm outta here again to work on the report. Here's Karthik

25.6
W
Theekshana to Washington Sundar, OUT, Sundar is gone! Is this finally the game? Looks to go over long-off and but ends up slicing it! It's high and Vandersay runs in to grab it. He bobbles it on the slide, but somehow holds on. The crowd knows what that wicket means

Washington Sundar c Vandersay b Theekshana 30 (36m 25b 2x4 3x6) SR: 120.00

25.5
0
Theekshana to Washington Sundar, no run, back of a length wide of off, this has spun away and Sundar is reaching for it as he misses. Mendis is up straight away for a caught behind though! But no dice says Asalanka
25.4
0
Theekshana to Washington Sundar, no run, Swing and a miss! Goes for the loft down the ground, but is beaten by the offbreak that turns away
25.3
0
Theekshana to Washington Sundar, no run, good length, pitches middle and straightens. Washington makes room and plays this well away from the body. It's just a defensive push but has Theekshana with his head in his heads
25.2
1
Theekshana to Kuldeep Yadav, 1 run, full and straight again, gets forward and glances this fine to get Washington back on strike
25.1
0
Theekshana to Kuldeep Yadav, no run, tossed up on the pads, and just defended by Kuldeep

Thanks Karthik. When the eighth wicket fell some eight overs ago, I wasn't expecting to be back here, but here we are. How much longer can Washington continue this solo counter?

Videos

India 2nd innings Partnerships

WktRunsPlayers
1st37RG SharmaShubman Gill
2nd16RG SharmaV Kohli
3rd10V KohliRR Pant
4th8V KohliSS Iyer
5th2AR PatelSS Iyer
6th9SS IyerR Parag
7th18S DubeR Parag
8th1S DubeWashington Sundar
9th37Kuldeep YadavWashington Sundar
10th0Kuldeep YadavMohammed Siraj