Kolkata: Sri Lanka’s spinners spun a web around India’s vaunted batting line-up for the third match in a row to inflict a 110-run defeat in Colombo on Wednesday and win the three-match series 2-0. This is the first time in 27 years that Sri Lanka have won a bilateral ODI series against India, and it couldn’t have been sweeter as their spinners accounted for a record-breaking 27 wickets in just three matches, the highest against India for any side in a bilateral series.

The real tragedy, though, wasn’t in the result but the appalling loss of competition that reduced this series into a walkover. For all the attacking verve Rohit Sharma has tried to inject in each of the three ODI chases, not once has India’s middle-order been able to temper the quick starts with the level of skill that could thwart Sri Lanka’s spinners. Only Sharma, Virat Kohli and the spunky Washington Sundar could cross 20 as six batters were dismissed for single digits. India are No.1, seventh-placed Sri Lanka haven’t even qualified for the Champions Trophy but this defeat told a different story as India were schooled by spinners in a hark back to the 1990s.

“I don’t think it’s a concern,” said Sharma at the post-match presentation when asked if playing spin was a worry. “But it’s something we need to look at seriously, our individual gameplans, and it’s something we were definitely put under pressure with in this series.” Giving credit to Sri Lanka for playing well, Sharma admitted they hadn’t been up to par but this loss shouldn’t set off alarm bells.

“We didn’t play good cricket throughout the series, and that is why we stand here. There were a few positives too. How the spinners bowled, some of the batters in the middle as well. We lost the series, and I feel there are a lot of areas we need to look at rather than the positives. We need to go back and look at what we need to do when we come up against conditions like this. Series lost doesn’t mean the end of the world. These guys have been playing very well over the past few years, very consistent, you will lose the odd series.”

The capitulation to spin, however, must ruffle a few feathers. If it was Jeffrey Vandersay who broke India’s resistance with six wickets in the second ODI, on Wednesday it was Dunith Wellalage’s turn with five wickets. There was no plan against spin, just the odd show of defiance or innovation when ideally batters should have turned to grafting the gettable run rate. Failure to do so for three matches in a row points to an inexplicable nosedive of technical and mental prowess in the space of a week.

So shambolic has been India’s batting that perhaps only Sharma can escape scrutiny. Shubman Gill averaged 19, ending this series being bowled, missing a wild slog after charging down the pitch. Brought in place of KL Rahul, Rishabh Pant departed in similar fashion — skipping down the track to Maheesh Theekshana who pulled the length back and beat his outer edge so comprehensively that his stumping could easily be mistaken as a run out. Unprecedented too has been the form of Kohli, who averaged 19.33 in three matches — his lowest in seven bilateral ODI series against Sri Lanka.

Neither Axar Patel nor Shreyas Iyer could read the ball off the hand or the pitch to be bowled and trapped leg-before respectively. Nothing however summed up India’s ignominy more aptly than the dismissal of Riyan Parag, looking far from a debutant till he shouldered arms to a good length ball from Vandersay that didn’t turn and clattered into his middle stump. Washington’s feisty cameo ensured it wasn’t a complete surrender but it was only delaying the inevitable after India’s batting spine had been systematically dismantled.

It only underscored the importance of opener Avishka Fernando’s 96 off 102, setting up Sri Lanka for a potentially massive finish before they lost 28 runs for five wickets and had to settle for 248/7. Still, it was an improvement on their previous two scores here — 230 in the first ODI and 240 in the second. The first two partnerships — No.3 Kusal Mendis scored 59 —contributed 89 and 82 but once again India’s spinners delivered crucial blows as they bowled 37 overs, their highest in an ODI since 2011. Washington (1/29), Patel (1/41) and Kuldeep Yadav (1/36) kept the runs in check but Parag proved to be the trump card as he removed Fernando, Charith Asalanka and Wellalage to finish with 3/54 in his maiden ODI. From 171/1, Sri Lanka slid to 199/6 in no time but Kamindu Mendis’s 19-ball 23 ensured the hosts had plenty to defend.

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