Rediff.com« Back to articlePrint this article

Dhoni drives Kohli and Co across R Premadasa stadium

September 04, 2017 10:35 IST

MS Dhoni

IMAGE:  Mahendra Singh Dhoni with team-mates. Photograph: Twitter

Mahendra Singh Dhoni took charge of the celebrations post India’s whitewash win over Sri Lanka, in Colombo, on Sunday.

Jasprit Bumrah was awarded the ‘Man of the Series’ for being the leading wicket-taker but it’s Dhoni who was the driving force.

 

Skipper Virat Kohli scored his 30th one-day international century to lead India to victory in the fifth and final one-day match as the visitors won by six wickets to complete a 5-0 whitewash of Sri Lanka.

Dhoni became the first wicketkeeper to collect 100 ODI stumpings, surpassing Sri Lanka's retired captain Kumar Sangakkara.

Sri Lanka elected to bat and were going steady at 185-4, with Angelo Mathews and Lahiru Thirimanne notching up half-centuries, but they collapsed in the final 11 overs as they lost six wickets for 53 runs.

Indian pacer Bhuvneshwar Kumar, who was named man of the match, marked his maiden ODI five-wicket haul as powerful performances from him and spinners Kuldeep Yadav and Jasprit Bumrah limited the hosts to 238 all out.

India's opening batsmen Ajinkya Rahane and Rohit Sharma fell early to leave India at 29-2 but impressive play from Kohli, who scored 110 off 116 balls, and Kedar Jadhav, who scored 63 off 73 balls, led them to victory.

Kohli's second consecutive century of the series moved him level with former Australian captain Ricky Ponting for the most ODI centuries. The duo are joint second with 30 centuries each while Indian ace Sachin Tendulkar holds the record with 49.

India whitewashed the hosts 3-0 in the preceding Test series, prompting the entire selection panel to resign.

Rediff Sports Desk