India again defeated Sri Lanka in the third ODI and clinched the series with two ODIs remaining. The third ODI was played at Hyderabad Uppal Stadium and SL's captain Angelo Mathews won the toss and elected to bat first. The openers of Sri Lanka failed yet again to give a decent start to their team as Umesh Yadav removed Kushal Perera in the opening over. Right away first down, Sangakarra was removed and SL fell in trouble. But it was Mahela Jayawardene who batted brilliantly with Dilshan. However, after Dilshan's exit, Jayawardene did not get much support from any SL batsmen but despite the odds, he went to score a century. In the end, in search of quick runs, SL batsmen were bowled out for 242 runs.
The total being too small and Indian batsmen are in super form. The openers again gave a good start but Rahane failed to convert his innings to a big one. Another opener, Shikhar Dhawan was nine runs short of century and was dismissed for 91 runs. Captain Virat Kohli scored a fifty and surpassed 6000 International ODI runs and broke West Indian Viv Richard's record. India chased the total with nearly six overs remaining.
Jayawardene was given 'Man of the Match' award for his patience hundred.
Scoreboard: SL : 242 allout, Jayawardene 118, Dilshan 53, U Yadav 4/53, A Patel 3/40
India: 245/4, Shikhar Dhawan 91, V Kohli 53, Rayudu 35
(AW: Vamshi)
