After achieving an unassailable lead of 2-0 against Sri Lanka, India stepped onto the field for the third ODI with six changes in the side, five of them on debut. India won the toss and decided to bat first. After a quick start, India lost Shikhar Dhawan early to a full delivery in the sixth-stump zone.
Prithvi Shaw and debutant Sanju Samson provided stability to the innings scoring 49 and 46 runs respectively. Both departed within three overs of one another. At this point, Manish Pandey and Suryakumar Yadav, came together to once again rebuild the Indian innings.
Suryakumar looked in the usual ominous touch, scoring three boundaries on his way to 17*(12). He smashed Dashun Shanaka for consecutive boundaries before almost playing one on to the stumps. In the first ball of the very next over, he was adjudged, LBW by umpire Kumar Dharmasena off the bowling of left-arm spinner, Praveen Jayawickrama.
Yadav took some time to consult with the non-striker before deciding to challenge the umpire’s decision. It was a longer wait than usual for the ball tracking to show up. Once it did, it clearly showed that the ball struck him outside the line but hitting the wickets.
There was some confusion around the decision as Surya started to walk off and the third umpire also seemed to be confused. The Sri Lankans had also started to celebrate wildly as soon as they saw ‘wickets-hitting’ on the big screen.
However, amidst the confusion, common sense prevailed as umpire Dharmasena, infamous for his mishap at the 50-over world cup final, made the right decision to reverse his decision and allow Surya to resume batting. A ball later, Surya would attempt the sweep shot once again but this time successfully connecting it to fetch a boundary.
A few balls later, the rain stopped the play and India is at a comfortable position at 147/3 from 23 overs. With batsmen like Hardik, Nitish, and Gowtham to come in, India would fancy their chances to get to a score of more than 350.