Sri Lanka vs India 2017: 3rd Test Day 3, 5 talking points

India beat Sri Lanka in the third and final Test of the 3-match series by an innings and 171 runs with more than two days to spare. The number one Test team registered their first whitewash away from home in Tests (minimum of 3-Test series).

The hosts continued their sorry performance with the bat on day 3. Continuing from their overnight score of 19 for 1, they lost Dimuth Karunaratne very early in the day.

Mohammed Shami, who bowled a brilliant spell with the new ball in the first innings, was at his best yet again. He dismissed Karunaratne and Kusal Mendis cheaply and put Sri Lanka under pressure straight away.

After losing four wickets for not much on the board, the two best batsmen of Sri Lanka - Angelo Mathews and Dinesh Chandimal, put together a patient partnership of 65 runs. However, both batsmen got out in quick succession looking to play attacking shots.

Niroshan Dickwella (41 off 52 balls) impressed once again with his composure at the crease. The attacking southpaw looked the best of the lot during his stay. He employed the sweep against the spinners and kept the scoreboard ticking but it wasn't enough to impact the game.

For India, it was Shami who was the pick of the bowlers once again. The quickie started the day brilliantly, getting two quick wickets upfront and setting the tone for the spinners. Ravichandran Ashwin, too, was brilliant with his off-spinners and picked up four wickets for 68. Kuldeep Yadav and Umesh Yadav bagged one and two wickets respectively.

With this dominating win, India handed Sri Lanka their first whitewash in a 3-Test series since 2004.

Here are five talking points from the day's play.

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#5 Sri Lankan batting disappoints yet again

India dominated the hosts in all departments of the game. They bowled, batted and fielded in a superior fashion in all the games and even had a better success rate using DRS.

But the main reason Sri Lanka lost this series 3-0 was their uninspiring batting. The hosts just couldn’t perform as a team the entire series.

It was the same story on day 3 as all the batsmen lacked intent and threw away their wickets. Things are not looking good for the future of Sri Lankan cricket at the moment.

#4 Mathews and Chandimal’s brief fightback

Angelo Mathews and Dinesh Chandimal steadied the ship but couldn't carry on

After losing four quick wickets up top, Sri Lanka looked set for a disastrous loss. However, the two experienced batsmen, Chandimal and Mathews, put their heads down and played patiently. The duo played with caution and put together a decent partnership in the middle.

When things settled down and just as India began searching for answers, Kuldeep Yadav dismissed Chandimal for 36, opening the floodgates. Mathews soon followed his skipper, being dismissed LBW while attempting to sweep a flat delivery from Ashwin.

Ashwin then deceived Dilruwan Perera in the air and had him mistime a sweep to Hardik Pandya at deep mid-wicket. And he cleaned up Lahiru Kumara to complete the formalities.

#3 Ravichandran Ashwin helps himself with a four-for

Ravichandran Ashwin celebrates after dismissing Dimuth Karunaratne

Ravichandran Ashwin enjoyed another successful outing with the ball against a clueless Sri Lankan batting line up.

The off-spinner was at his best in his first spell of the day in which he dismissed the centurion from the previous two matches - Dimuth Karunaratne. Ashwin mixed his pace beautifully against the left-hander and bowled nagging lengths. The Sri Lankan opener couldn't resist the invitation and edged a drive to Ajinkya Rahane at first slip.

Ashwin looked keen on giving the ball more air and tempting the batsmen to go for drives and the tactic worked nicely for him. The tall right-arm spinner took three more wickets later in the day and ended up with the best figures for an Indian in the innings, 28.3-6-68-4.

#2 Niroshan Dickwella impresses once again

Niroshan Dickwella sweeps during his impressive innings

In what was a gloomy Sri Lankan batting display, Dickwella painted an exciting picture. The youngster batted with confidence once again and looked comfortable at the crease against a high-quality Indian bowling line up.

The southpaw used the sweep shot to good effect and kept the Indian spinners at bay. His approach resulted in a lot of changes in the field as the Indian skipper Kohli looked to block off scoring avenues. But the Sri Lankan found ways to accumulate runs at a brisk pace, ending with 41 runs off 52 balls.

It remains to be seen if he converts his potential into something special or fades away like many of his countrymen.

#1 Incisive Shami rattles Sri Lanka yet again

Mohammed Shami was exceptional in this Test match for India

Carrying on from where he left off in the first innings, Mohammed Shami started the day with a lot of pace and aggression. The Bengal pacer got Pushpakumara out caught behind, and followed it up with one that nipped back in and trapped Kusal Mendis plumb in front.

Shami bowled with consistent pace around the 140 kmph mark, and troubled all the batsmen.

His spell to Mendis was exceptional; he set the batsman up with a few short balls and an away swinger and then bowled a fast in-swinger to catch the right-hander napping on the crease. He later bagged the wicket of Lakshan Sandakan with a quick back-of-a-length delivery and finished with three wickets to his name.