Indian batsman Shikhar Dhawan returns pavilion as Virat Kohli pats him during 3rd ODI against SriLanka at Hyderabad on Sunday. (Source: PTI)

Two-nil down and fighting to stay alive in the series by the third match, Sri Lanka were two wickets down and fighting to stay alive in the match by the third over.

For once, however, the visiting team were in a hole not because they did nothing, but because they simply couldn’t do anything. Their lack of application would resurface later in the innings, and would see them lose the match by six wickets and the series, but the first blows were down to a subliminal display of swing bowling by India. Particularly by Umesh Yadav.

Having won the toss and deciding to bat in this do-or-die match, Sri Lanka captain Angelo Mathews said that the wicket might have in it something for the pacers early on, but he was also confident it would have plenty of runs on offer too later on. Mathews couldn’t have read an open book more perceptively.

With Yadav making the ball dance at a considerable speed, opener Kusal Perera and No.3 Kumar Sangakkara were back in the hut in the first 10 minutes of play. It may not have been the case in their series, but with Sri Lanka, an early wicket or two usually don’t seem to create a panic. As was the case when India’s Fab Four played together, you get the feeling that there is a multi-layered safety net in place.

And so, while Sangakkara was dismissed for his only the second golden duck of career, to the Sri Lankan dressing room Mahela Jayawardene shadow-batting on his way to the pitch must have felt like a reserve parachute opening above them.

Great expectations

After a couple of nervous prods and an awkward hop against Yadav, Jayawardene showed signs of settling down with a most delicate upper cut against Dhawal Kulkarni. It is often said that the best of batsmen appear to have that fraction of second extra to execute their shots. Here was a shining example. As Kulkarni banged in a short ball, Jayawardene’s first reaction was to sway away from the line. In super slo-mo, you may almost find him watching the ball all the way till it freezes right in front of his face. And then, just like that, he clips it over the ’keeper with cute wristwork.

That special shot foretold a special knock. With a willing Tillakaratne Dilshan — and “willing” being an adjective not used casually for the Lankans on this tour — Jayawardene set about the revival.

They brought up their fifties and added 105 runs, as Lanka looked on course for a 270-plus score. Captain Virat Kohli, frustrated without breakthroughs, threw the ball at the part-timer Ambati Rayudu. That’s when Dilshan became ambitious. Off the last ball of the 25th over, he charged out to clear the extra cover fielder but found Ajinkya Rahane. It was first of the many needless shots that the Lankans would play in the afternoon.

Soon, 112/2 in 24.5 overs became 158/7 in 36.2, with orthodox Axar Patel taking three wickets in three powerplay overs. West Indies, it seemed, never pulled out.

Now, as then, there was one batsman who was in a bubble of his own, insulating himself from the ineptitude infecting his teammates just 22 yards away. Jayawardene, like Marlon Samuels, went after the frontline bowlers — Yadav suffered at his hands, as did Patel, the duo between them conceding 52 runs in 44 balls to him.

He slog-swept Patel over deep mid-wicket to bring up his 17th ODI century. After he was dismissed for 118, SL’s innings quickly folded, leaving India to chase 243.

Before Sunday, only one Jayawardene ton had come in a losing cause — in the big one at the Wankhede on April 2, 2011. But even at half time, there was a feeling that that the 17th is going to go down the same route. So dominant is India’s batting at home these days.

Sure enough, Shikhar Dhawan and Rahane came out batting as if they needed to knock the runs down in 40 overs. In the event, they did so in 44.1 overs. Dhawan, at his IPL home ground, was particularly aggressive and came close to scoring his second ton in the series.

However, he fell at 91 to a dubious decision, given caught behind when the ball had brushed only his helmet. These runs are a timely boost for the batsman ahead of a tough series Down Under, where the very helmet will likely be a painted target for the Aussie bowlers.

Kohli, too, notched up a fifty while also becoming in the process the fastest batsman to score 6000 runs. On the captaincy front as well, this series has been a massive success for him. All the wins have been big and there has been a certain degree of ruthlessness about the team. With two dead rubbers up next, it remains to be seen if the fire still burns with the same intensity.