India win third ODI, aim for whitewash

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India made light work of the third ODI against Sri Lanka, winning by six wickets in Hyderabad to also win the series, but with two games to play the Sri Lankans were left at risk of a whitewash.

India made light work of the third ODI against Sri Lanka, winning by six wickets in Hyderabad to also win the series, but with two games to play the Sri Lankans were left at risk of a whitewash.

Sri Lanka's batting was slightly improved as they posted a target of 243, but that was thanks to veteran batsman Mahela Jayawardene's century, which went in vain in the end.

India chased the score down with nearly six overs to spare, thanks to half tons from Shikhar Dhawan (91), his third 70 plus score of the series, and a nifty knock of 53 from Virat Kohli, which ended with seven runs to go.

Sri Lanka, already trailing the Indians two nil in the series, won the toss and chose to bat. They got off to a terrible start once again, as Kusal Perera was out in the first over, to Umesh Yadav.

Kumar Sangakkara followed soon afterwards, leaving Sri Lanka on seven for two. Mahela and Tillakaratne Dilshan set about steadying the knock, and they used all their experience on the bouncy pitch to push the score to 112 in 25 overs.

But then Dilshan fell for 53, to Ambhati Rayudu, and the wheels came off the bus. While Jayawardene advanced to his ton at the other end, Akshar Patel removed the middle order cheaply, including Angelo Mathews for 10.

Mahela recorded his 12 000th ODI run, only the fifth batsman to reach that milestone, and reached his ton off 109 balls. He was eventually out for 118, stumped off Ravi Ashwin, while a cameo of 29 from Seekkugge Prasanna helped the score.

Yadav ended the innings with four wickets, removing Thisara Perera and Prasanna at the death, while the final wicket went toDhawal Kulkarni, who bagged Nuwan Kulasekara in the 49th over to end the knock.

India's chase was relatively fluid, with the openers putting on 62 runs in the first 11 overs. They didn't need to bat overly quickly, and much of the knock was conducted with just two wickets down.

Ajinkya Rahane was the first wicket to fall, out to Thisara Perera for 31. This left Dhawan and Rayudu to keep the scoreboard ticking, before Rayudu was run out for 35.

Dhawan, who had scored 79 and 113 in the previous two matches, looked on track for a second century, but he was out to Nuwan Kulasekara. The paceman had not taken a wicket in his past five internationals.

Kohli then saw the game nearly to completion, but was removed by Dilshan, caught on the boundary while trying to end the game quicker. Suresh Raina and Wriddhiman Saha made sure the game ended with plenty of time to spare.

India: S Dhawan, A Rahane, V Kohli, A Rayudu, S Raina, W Saha, R Ashwin, U Yadav, D Kulkarni, I Sharma, A Patel

Sri Lanka: K Perera, T Dilshan, K Sangakkara, M Jayawardene, A Mathews, A Priyanjan, T Perera, N Kulasekara, S Prasanna, L Gamage, C de Silva

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