India’s star-studded batting line-up was troubled by the spinners right through the series.
On Wednesday (August 7), the Men in Blue succumbed to an embarrassing 110-run defeat in the third ODI at the R Premadasa Stadium in Colombo. As a result, they conceded the three-match series 2-0.
Chasing 249 to win, the tourists were bowled out for 138 in 26.1 overs, with no batter managing to touch the 40-run mark. Rohit was the top scorer with 35 off 20 balls.
Sri Lanka’s spin trio of Dunith Wellalage (5/27 in his 5.1 overs), Jeffrey Vandersay (2/34 in 5 overs), Maheesh Theekshana (2/45 in 8 overs) ran through the Indian batting order, sharing nine wickets among them.
Addressing the media after the series finale, Rohit praised the Lankan batters for manipulating the field to good effect by playing sweeps, paddle sweeps and reverse sweeps.
Opting to bat first, the hosts posted 248/7 on the board in the third ODI, with major contributions from Avishka Fernando (96), Kusal Mendis (59) and Pathum Nissanka (45).
"They were consistent with sweeps, taking their chances. There weren't a lot of runs scored down the ground. They didn't use the feet as much as we expected. It was about using sweeps and piercing that deep square leg and midwicket field. That is something we failed to do as a batting unit. We didn't play enough sweeps, reverse sweeps, or paddle sweeps, and used our feet too much. That was the difference,” Rohit told reporters.
"If you look at Kusal Mendis and Avishka Fernando today [who put on an 82-run stand], they got a lot of runs square of the wicket. They were using the turn, and sweeping, making the fielder move left and right. They were smart with how they batted and we were not,” he added.
While Vandersay wreaked havoc on the Indian batting line-up with six wickets in the second ODI, Wellalage made the visiting batters dance to his tunes with a fifer in the final match of the series.
"All in all, we need to admit where we have made mistakes, we didn't dominate against spin. On such wickets, you need to dominate a bit and the Sri Lankan spinners had consistently kept us under pressure in all three games,” Rohit remarked.
In all three ODIs, the tourists lost the toss and failed to chase down targets. The first match ended in a tie after which India suffered back-to-back heavy defeats.
(India Today Inputs)