Sri Lanka captain Asalanka wins third consecutive toss, chooses to bat against India in final ODI

In the third and final one-day international against India, Sri Lanka captain Charith Asalanka won the toss for the third time in a row and chose to bat first on Wednesday in Colombo, Sri Lanka.

Sri Lanka leads the series 1-0. There was a thrilling tie in the first game last Friday before leg spinner Jeffrey Vandersay took a career-best six wickets to propel the home team to a 32-run win on Sunday.

Sri Lanka is hoping to end a 27-year wait to clinch a bilateral ODI series against India.

A fresh wicket, with little grass, was chosen for the final game which is yet again expected to test the skills of batters against the spinners.

India strengthened its batting line-up by handing an ODI debut to Riyan Parag and also brought in Rishabh Pant. Arshdeep Singh and Lokesh Rahul dropped out.

Parag will also give India an additional option in the spin department.

“We’ve been challenged in the last two games so we know where we stand and what we need to do with the ball and the bat,” India skipper Rohit Sharma said.

Akila Dananjaya made way for Maheesh Theekshana in the only change Sri Lanka made.

Lineups:

Sri Lanka: Charith Asalanka , Avishka Fernando, Pathum Nissanka, Kusal Mendis, Kamindu Mendis, Sadeera Samarawickrama, Dunith Wellalage, Janith Liyanage, Maheesh Theekshana, Asitha Fernando, Jeffrey Vandersay.

India: Rohit Sharma , Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Rishabh Pant, Riyan Parag, Shivam Dube, Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Siraj.

cricket: /hub/cricket

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