India ended their 3-match One Day International (ODI) series against Sri Lanka with a thumping win on Sunday in Thiruvananthapuram. They won by a record-breaking victory with 317 runs to seal a 3-0 whitewash of the series.
This score is the highest margin of victory in any men’s ODI and the first time any team has won a men’s ODI by over 300 runs. The record in women’s ODIs is a 408-run win by New Zealand over Pakistan in 1997. The previous record holder for the men’s ODI was New Zealand, who scored a 290-run victory over Ireland in Aberdeen in 2008.
In the final ODI against Sri Lanka, India won the toss and opted to bat. In the 50 overs, India posted a mammoth score of 390/5. The Sri Lanka run chase ended in merely 22 overs as the side could only reach 73.
This huge run score was mainly thanks to Virat Kohli and Shubman Gill, who smashed 166 and 116 runs, respectively. The 166 runs marked Virat’s 46th ODI ton, while it was Gill’s second century in an ODI.
In addition to the great batsmen, Indian bowlers also shone with Mohammed Siraj dismissing the Sri Lanka batsmen with four wickets.
Before this final match, India was already making headlines for hitting several records. In the first ODI against Sri Lanka, Virat Kohli scored 113 off just 87 balls. This hit was his 45th ODI ton and his 73rd hundred in international cricket.
By the end of that match, the Indian team made a superb total of 373 runs after losing 7 wickets. In the second ODI match against Sri Lanka, it was a much closer game and the Indian team won narrowly by four wickets.
Following the record-breaking victory, social media was flooded with congratulatory messages and praise for the team. Among them was National Cricket Academy (NCA) chief VVS Laxman. He took to Twitter and posted a message that read:
“What absolute dominance by India in the final ODI, and the series! It’s wonderful to see Virat Kohli back at his best in white-ball cricket, this unbeaten 166 was special even by his lofty standards. Shubman Gill continues to impress with his poise and pleasing stroke play.”
Before this ODI series, the two teams played against each other in a T20 series. India had defeated Sri Lanka by 91 runs in the final T20I to claim the three-match series 2-1.
Sri Lanka and India have now faced each other in 165 ODIs with India winning 108 of the matches.
Following this ODI series, India will be going against New Zealand for a three-match ODI series. The series will start on February 18 and ends on February 1. The last time that India faced New Zealand was in an ODI series at the end of November 2022. New Zealand had won that ODI series 1-0. This result was because one match ended in a tie while the other two games concluded with no results.