India produced a dominating performance in Trivandrum on Sunday to crush Sri Lanka by 317 runs in the third and final ODI. This is now the biggest margin of victory in ODI cricket, surpassing New Zealand's 290-run win over Ireland in an ODI in 2008.
Virat Kohli and Mohammad Siraj were the star performers for the hosts with bat and ball. Kohli smashed 166 not out while Siraj took a four-wicket haul to decimate the Sri Lankans.
Chasing a mammoth 391 for victory, Sri Lanka got bowled out for 73 with last man Ashen Bandara not coming out to bat due to an injury he sustained while fielding during India's innings.
Siraj Misses Maiden ODI Five-For
Siraj bagged 4 for 32 from his 10 overs while Kuldeep Yadav and Mohammed Shami picked a couple of wickets each. The Sri Lankan innings lasted just 22 overs.
"I was trying hard to pick up a five-for but you get only what is written in your destiny, however hard you try. My rhythm has been good for a long time.
"The outswinger has been working well and I try to slip in the wobble-seam delivery in. The captain tried hard that I should get a five-for," Siraj said after the game.
But it was Kohli who was the top performer with his 46th ODI hundred and 10th against Sri Lanka. He broke multiple records during his 97-ball knock and became the fifth-highest run-scorer in ODI cricket after surpassing Sri Lankan great Mahela Jayawardene.
The Kohli-Gill Show
He stitched a 131-run partnership for the second wicket with Shubman Gill, who scored his second ODI hundred but was dismissed for 116.
Shreyas Iyer then joined Kohli and added another 108 runs before the latter took complete charge of the Indian innings and pushed the score well beyond Sri Lanka's reach.
Series Summary
India had already bagged the series in Kolkata where they beat Sri Lanka by 4 wickets at the Eden Gardens to take an unbeatable 2-0 lead. The Men in Blue had crushed the Lankans in the first ODI in Guwahati by 67 runs, a match in which Kohli had scored 113 runs.
Kohli finished as the top-scorer in the 3-match series with 283 runs at an average of 141.50 with two hundreds. Shubman Gill also amassed over 200 runs while Siraj was the most successful bowler with 9 wickets at 10.22.
