India vs. Sri Lanka, 3rd ODI: Highlights, Scorecard and Report

India beat Sri Lanka by six wickets in the third one-day international in Hyderabad, taking an insurmountable 3-0 lead in the five-match series. 

Mahela Jayawardene played wonderfully for the tourists, notching his 17th century in ODI cricket, but some astute bowing, most notably from Umesh Yadav, meant wickets tumbled around him and Sri Lanka were all out for 242 in 48.2 overs.

A strong start to the Indian innings left little doubt as to who would emerge victorious in the series, as another excellent knock from Shikhar Dhawan eased India to victory; the opener played wonderfully to bag 91 runs from 79 balls.

Here's the full scorecard from the match and a look at how the action panned out as India wrapped up the series at the earliest opportunity.

Sri Lanka Innings: 242 (48.2 overs)
India Innings: 245-4 (44.1 overs)
Batsman	Dismissal	Runs	Balls
MDKJ Perera	c †Saha b Yadav	4	6
TM Dilshan	c Rahane b Rayudu	53	80
KC Sangakkara†	c Ashwin b Yadav	0	1
DPMD Jayawardene	st †Saha b Ashwin	118	124
AD Mathews*	c Kohli b Patel	10	14
SMA Priyanjan	c Yadav b Patel	2	8
PC de Silva	c Dhawan b Patel	2	7
NLTC Perera	c sub (STR Binny) b Yadav	1	4
S Prasanna	b Yadav	29	32
KMDN Kulasekara	c Rahane b Kulkarni	7	12
PLS Gamage	not out	0	4
Extras	(lb 3, w 11, nb 2)	16
Total	(all out; 48.2 overs)	242
Bowler	Overs	Maidens	Runs	Wickets
UT Yadav	9	0	53	4
DS Kulkarni	9.2	0	58	1
I Sharma	4	1	14	0
AR Patel	10	1	40	3
R Ashwin	10	0	43	1
SK Raina	3	0	15	0
AT Rayudu	3	0	16	1
Batsman	Dismissal	Runs	Balls
AM Rahane	c Jayawardene b NLTC Perera	31	47
S Dhawan	c †Sangakkara b Kulasekara	91	79
AT Rayudu	run out (Mathews/†Sangakkara)	35	46
V Kohli*	c Gamage b Dilshan	53	61
SK Raina	not out	18	23
WP Saha†	not out	6	10
Extras	(lb 2, w 8, nb 1)	11
Total	(4 wickets; 44.1 overs)		245
Bowler	Overs	Maidens	Runs	Wickets
KMDN Kulasekara	8	0	37	1
PLS Gamage	6	0	50	0
S Prasanna	9	0	43	0
NLTC Perera	7	0	33	1
PC de Silva	5	0	45	0
AD Mathews	3	0	17	0
TM Dilshan	4	0	10	1
SMA Priyanjan	2.1	1	8	0

The hosts have been exceptionally dominant during the opening games of this series, but Indian captain Virat Kohli insisted pre-match that he expects his side to show no mercy against the struggling Sri Lankans, per sports.ndtv.com:

"

What we are trying to achieve is being ruthless rather than letting the situations be. In the past it happened a lot when we had got eight wickets and then let the last two players get away with it.

If you want to be ruthless, want to have big and convincing wins, it is important to address the issues as well.

"

Aijaz Rahi/Associated Press

The Sri Lankan innings was riddled with the perpetual issues that have continued to hamper them in the infancy of this series. They build up momentum in burst, but whenever they looked to be on the cusp of putting together an innings-defining partnership, they lost vital wickets.

Getting off to a tumultuous start was far from ideal, too, especially after winning the toss and electing to bat. Inside three overs, the tourists were two wickets down, with opener Kusal Perera going for four and star batsman Kumar Sangakkara out for a first-ball duck; both fell to the bowling of Yadav, who had an excellent day with the ball.

Cricket writer Aakash Chopra paid tribute to the efforts of the Indian fast bowler:

Sri Lanka have plenty of strength in depth when it comes to batting, however, and with Tillakaratne Dilshan and Jayawardene at the crease, they went about rebuilding the innings. The experienced pairing settled things down for the tourists, and although the wicket of Dilshan for 53 triggered a flurry of wickets, Jayawardene remained in situ.

Gemunu Amarasinghe/Associated Press

Indeed, the four batsmen to come in after Dilshan scored a meagre 15 runs between them, so the 37-year-old’s innings was a vital one. Jayawardene played with a maturity and purpose that has been scarcely showcased by the rest of his teammates, and his knock of 118 from 124 proved to be critical to the Sri Lankan effort.

The iconic batsman went past yet another iconic landmark in the process, too, as noted here by Cricket Record:

When Jayawardene departed, Sri Lanka were toiling on 225-8 in the 45th over, and although Seekkuge Prasanna added 29 late on, India will have been delighted with their bowling effort, having skittled out the tourists for 242 from inside the 50 overs; Yadav was the star of the show with the ball, taking 4-53 from his nine overs.

In truth, it would have been an embarrassing Sri Lanka score had it not been for the exploits of a few individuals, as noted here by statistician Mohandas Menon:

The Indian response began in solid fashion, with Dhawan looking in fine fettle early on. The home side lost Ajinkya Rahane in the 12th over for 31, but his fellow opener continued to play with the kind of aggressive swagger that has made him such a feared foe in the limited overs format.

He is renowned for scoring fast runs out in the middle, and that opinion was given added credence when he passed a landmark for India in double-quick time, per Cricket Record:

His knock of 91 helped push the hosts toward the target score at a brisk rate, as did contributions of 35 from Ambati Rayudu, a half-century from Kohl and 18 from Suresh Raina. The home side eventually knocked off the score required with 5.9 overs to spare and after the platform afforded to them by Dhawan, it was a victory that never looked in any doubt.

Michael Steele/Getty Images

Sri Lanka clearly have some big problems to overcome if they’re to make an impression at the 2015 World Cup in a few months time. The quality is there, but too often this team is left reliant on a massive individual effort, and while the are some seriously classy operators among the group, the match today showed exactly why it’s imperative that the team stands up as a collective.

India will naturally be one of the favourites for the 2015 showpiece, but they’ve yet to be appropriately tested by the tourists, such has been the chasm between the two sides. Nonetheless, there are plenty of players in excellent form, and such is the strength in depth, myriad men will be hungry to force their way into this team, meaning the levels should remain high for the remaining two games.