RANCHI: Virat Kohli scored an unbeaten 139 as India beat Sri Lanka by three wickets to secure a 5-0 series whitewash in the fifth One-day International in Ranchi on Sunday.

The stand-in skipper showed plenty of leadership in his innings, akin to his opposite number Angelo Mathews earlier on, as he came in with his side in a precarious situation after openers Ajinkya Rahane (2) and Rohit Sharma (9) went early to leave them reeling at 14 for two inside five overs.

Kohli then set about rebuilding the platform with Ambati Rayudu, putting on 136 for the third wicket until the latter was run out in the 28th after being sent back by his ball-watching partner for 59.

Ajantha Mendis then made things interesting as he took frequent wickets, crippling India’s middle-to-lower order with figures of 4-73 which saw the game go to the penultimate over.

Kohli decided to avoid the last over as he smashed Mendis for six in the first ball of the 49th and then repeated that in the fourth ball of the same over to take his tally to 139 from 126 balls as India reached 288-7 for a nervous win at the JSCA International Cricket Stadium.

Earlier, Mathews also smashed an unbeaten 139 to propel his side to 286 for eight from their 50 overs.

The visitors found themselves in a bind following the cheap dismissals of debutant opener Niroshan Dickwella (4) and Denesh Chandimal (5) after Math­ews won the toss and decided to bat first.

With the dismissal of the experienced Mahela Jayawardene (32) in the 19th over with the scoreboard on 85 for four, the hosts seemed to be in complete control.

However, Mathews combined with Lah­iru Thirimanne (52) to grab the game by the scruff of the neck with a determined 128-run fifth-wicket partnership.

The all-round Mathews accelerated considerably in the latter part of his 116-ball knock, plundering 10 sixes and six fours along the way.

Rookie seam bowler Dhawal Kulkarni was the pick of the bowlers with figures of 3-57 from eight overs.

The only consolation for Sri Lanka — who only agreed to the tour after West Indies’ abrupt pullout midway through the India trip last month over contractual dispute with their board — was Mathews being declared man-of-the-match on Sunday.

Kohli was declared man-of-the-series.

Scoreboard

SRI LANKA:

N. Dickwella c Rayudu b Kulkarni 4 T.M. Dilshan b Binny 35L.D. Chandimal c R.G. Sharma b Patel 5 D.P.M.D. Jayawardene c Rahane b Ashwin 32A.D. Mathews not out 139H.D.R.L. Thirimanne c Rayudu b Ashwin 52N.L.T.C. Perera c Jadhav b Patel 6S. Prasanna c Patel b Kulkarni 0 B.A.W. Mendis c K.V. Sharma b Kulkarni 0

EXTRAS (B-4, LB-2, W-7) 13

TOTAL (for eight wkts, 50 overs) 286

FALL OF WKTS: 1-32, 2-45, 3-73, 4-85, 5-213, 6-258, 7-285, 8-286.

DID NOT BAT: R.M.S. Eranga, P.L.S. Gamage.

BOWLING: Kulkarni 8-0-57-3 (3w); Binny 8-1-28-1; Patel 10-0-45-2; Ashwin 10-1-56-2; K.V. Sharma 10-0-61-0; Rayudu 4-0-33-0.

INDIA:

A.M. Rahane b Mathews 2 R.G. Sharma b Mathews 9A.T. Rayudu run out 59V. Kohli not out 139R.V. Uthappa c Mathews b Mendis 19K.M. Jadhav b Mendis 20S.T.R. Binny st Chandimal b Mendis 12R. Ashwin lbw b Mendis 0 A.R. Patel not out 17

EXTRAS (B-4, LB-7) 11

TOTAL (for seven wkts, 48.4 overs) 288

FALL OF WKTS: 1-6, 2-14, 3-150, 4-180, 5-215, 6-231, 7-231.

DID NOT BAT: K.V. Sharma, D.S. Kulkarni.

BOWLING: Mathews 7-1-33-2; Gamage 4-0-25-0 (1w); Eranga 7-0-45-0 (2w); Prasanna 10-0-42-0 (1w); N.L.T.C. Perera 3-0-20-0 (1w); Mendis 9.4-0-73-4; Dilshan 8-0-46-0 (2w).

RESULT: India won by three wickets to win series 5-0.

UMPIRES: S. Ravi (India) and B.N.J. Oxenford (Australia).

TV UMPIRE: A.K. Chaudhary (India).

MATCH REFEREE: D.C. Boon (Australia).

MAN-OF-THE-MATCH: Angelo Mathews.

MAN-OF-THE-SERIES: Virat Kohli.

FIRST MATCH: Cuttack, India won by 169 runs.

SECOND MATCH: Ahmedabad, India won by six wickets.

THIRD MATCH: Hyderabad, India won by six wickets.

FOURTH MATCH: Kolkata, India won by 153 runs.

Published in Dawn, November 17th, 2014