Sri Lanka vs India: The Sri Lankan Cricket Team under Charith Asalanka’s captaincy thrashed Team India by 110 runs in the third and last ODI match of the 3-match ODI series on 7th August 2024 (Wednesday). It was in August 1997 when the men-in-blue faced a complete sweep of 0-3 against Sri Lanka at R. Premadasa Stadium, Colombo. Consequently, Sri Lanka achieved their first bilateral ODI series win against India by 2-0 for the first time in 27 years back at the same venue.
As a result, India’s longest winning streak against Sri Lanka in ODIs comes to an end. The first ODI ended with a tied result and Sri Lanka won the second match by 32 runs.
However, the common fact observed is that the Sri Lankan spinners dominated the series against the in-depth batting line-up of the Indian team by grabbing the most wickets. Also, the top-order and lower-middle-order batters have made crucial contributions in all matches. Whereas, the Indian skipper Rohit Sharma was the only top-scoring batter for his side to score 100-plus runs in the entire ODI series.
Moreover, the Sri Lankan all-rounder Dunith Wellalage achieves an exceptional record against India with his impressive spin bowling techniques.
As Sri Lanka concluded the 3-match ODI series with a historical victory, let’s delve deeper into the 5 important stats that prove how India’s batting failure allowed the hosts to dominate in the 50-over format.
5 Unbelievable Stats from Sri Lanka vs India 3-Match ODI Series
Here are the 5 main shocking stats gathered after the conclusion of Sri Lanka vs India ODI Series in August 2024:
1. India’s Longest Winning Streak in ODI Series Against Sri Lanka Ended:
Since 1997, the Indian men’s team in ODI achieved 13 consecutive series wins against Sri Lanka before their latest loss in Colombo.
Here are the results of the 13 ODI series between India and Sri Lanka up to the present contest (7th August 2024) following the 0-3 loss in August 1997:
| S.No | Series | Number of ODI Matches in the Series | Winner |
| 1. | Sri Lanka Tour of India 1997–98 | 3-match ODI series | Draw (1-1) |
| 2. | Sri Lanka Tour of India 2005–06 | 7-match ODI series | India (6-1) |
| 3. | India Tour of Sri Lanka 2006 | 3-match ODI series | Draw (0-0) |
| 4. | Sri Lanka Tour of India 2006–07 | 4-match ODI series | India (2-1) |
| 5. | India Tour of Sri Lanka 2008 | 5-match ODI series | India (3-2) |
| 6. | India Tour of Sri Lanka 2008–09 | 5-match ODI series | India (4-1) |
| 7. | Sri Lanka Tour of India 2009–10 | 5-match ODI series | India (3-1) |
| 8. | India Tour of Sri Lanka 2012 | 5-match ODI series | India (4-1) |
| 9. | Sri Lanka Tour of India 2014–15 | 5-match ODI series | India (5-0) |
| 10. | India Tour of Sri Lanka 2017 | 5-match ODI series | India (5-0) |
| 11. | Sri Lanka Tour of India 2017–18 | 3-match ODI series | India (2-1) |
| 12. | India Tour of Sri Lanka 2021 | 3-match ODI series | India (2-1) |
| 13. | Sri Lanka Tour of India 2022–23 | 3-match ODI series | India (3-0) |
The above stats highlight the fact that India won 11 out of 13 ODI series, which includes 2 draw results against Sri Lanka.
2. Sri Lankan Spinners Grab 27 Wickets, India Only 15:
Interestingly, Sri Lankan spinners grabbed 27 out of 30 wickets in this 3-match ODI series (9 wickets in each game), which is the highest by any team’s spin bowlers in a 3-match ODI series. Whereas the Indian spin bowlers took 16 wickets and failed to make an impact when compared to the Sri Lankans.
Here is the comparison of Sri Lankan and Indian spin bowlers in the ODI series
| ODI Matches in the Series | Sri Lankan Spin Bowlers’ Best Performance | Indian Spin Bowlers’ Best Performance |
| 1st ODI | Charith Asalanka: 3-30 in 8.5 overs. Wanindu Hasaranga: 3-58 in 10 overs. Dunith Wellalage: 2-39 in 9 overs. (TOTAL: 9 Wickets) | Axar Patel: 2-33 in 10 overs.Kuldeep Yadav: 1-33 in 10 overs.Washington Sundar: 1-46 in 9 overs. (TOTAL: 4 Wickets) |
| 2nd ODI | Jeffrey Vandersay: 6-33 in 10 overs Charith Asalanka: 3-20 in 6.2 overs. (TOTAL: 9 Wickets) | Washington Sundar: 3-30 in 10 overs. Kuldeep Yadav: 2-33 in 10 overs. Axar Patel: 1-38 in 9 overs. (TOTAL: 6 Wickets) |
| 3rd ODI | Dunith Wellalage: 5-27 in 5.1 overs.Jeffrey Vandersay: 2-34 in 5 overs.Maheesh Theekshana: 2-45 in 8 overs. (TOTAL: 9 Wickets) | Riyan Parag: 3-54 in 9 overs.Kuldeep Yadav: 1-36 in 10 overs.Washington Sundar: 1-29 in 8 oversAxar Patel: 1-41 in 10 overs. (TOTAL: 5 Wickets) |
| Spinner with the most wickets in the Series | Jeffrey Vandersay and Dunith Wellalage (7 wickets) | Washington Sundar (5 wickets) |
3. First spinner to achieve Most 5-wicket Hauls Against India:
Dunith Wellalage with his left-arm spin bowling techniques became the first spinner to claim two 5-wicket hauls against India in ODIs. He achieved the 5-fer against India for the second time in his career during the 3rd ODI match of this series. Let’s take a look at the two different occasions when the 21-year-old all-rounder achieved this outstanding record tabulated below with his best bowling figures:
| Tournament/ Series vs India | Best Bowling Figures |
| Asia Cup 2023, 4th Match, Super Fours | 5-40 in 10 overs |
| 3rd ODI match (3-match ODI Series) 2024 | 5-27 in 5.1 overs |
4. India Bowled Out for the first time in all games of the 3-match ODI Series:
This was the first time that the Indian cricket team was bowled out by any opposition team in all three matches of the ODI series.
5. Sri Lanka’s Lower Batting Order Scoring Most Runs than India
Indian bowlers once again continued to struggle to face the lower-order batters in international cricket, but this time it was a battle against Sri Lanka.
The lower-order batters of Sri Lanka from No.7 to No.11 accumulated a total of 232 runs out of the 718 runs scored in the first three games. It becomes clear that 32% of the team’s runs were scored by the lower order.
In contrast, the Indian lower-order batters scored only 26.73% of the team’s runs and contributed only 154 runs out of 576 runs in the first three games.
Here is the breakdown of the Sri Lanka’s lower-order batting performance in the 3-match ODI series:
Sri Lanka Lower Order Batting Performance in three ODI matches of the series:
| Batting Position | 1st ODI Scores | 2nd ODI Scores | 3rd ODI Scores |
| 7th | *67 runs (Dunith Wellalage) | 39 runs (Dunith Wellalage) | 2 runs (Dunith Wellalage) |
| 8th | 24 runs (Wanindu Hasaranga) | 40 runs (Kamindu Mendis) | 23 runs (Kamindu Mendis) |
| 9th | 17 runs (Akila Dananjaya) | 15 runs (Akila Dananjaya) | 3 runs (Maheesh Theekshana) |
| 10th | 1 run (Mohamed Shiraz) | 1 run (Jeffrey Vandersay) | Jeffrey Vandersay (Did not Bat) |
| TOTAL: | 109 runs out of 230 runs | 95 runs out of 240 runs | 28 runs out of 248 runs |
