Chasing Sri Lanka’s target of 276, India made seven in 49.1 overs with an unbroken 84-run eighth wicket partnership between Chahar (69 not out in 82 balls, seven fours and a six) and Bhuvneshwar (19 not out off 28 balls). Won by scoring 277 runs on the wicket. The two forged this partnership at a time when India were in trouble after losing seven wickets for 193 runs. Suryakumar Yadav (53) also scored half-centuries for India while Manish Pandey (37) and Krunal Pandya (35) played useful innings.
Sri Lanka posted a challenging score of 275 for nine with half-centuries from Charith Asalanka (65 off 68 balls, five fours) and opener Avishka Fernando (50 off 71 balls). Lower down the order, Chamika Karunaratne (44 not out off 33 balls, five fours) played a flamboyant knock as the team managed to add 79 runs in the last 10 overs. Karunaratne also shared a 50-run partnership for the seventh wicket with Asalanka.
For India, leg-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal made 50 runs while Bhuvneshwar Kumar took three wickets for 54 runs. Chahar took two wickets for 53 runs. The third and final match will be played at the Premadasa Cricket Stadium here on 23 July.
Chasing the target, India had a poor start and the team lost the wickets of openers Prithvi Shaw (13) and Ishan Kishan (01) for 39 runs. Prithvi was bowled by a straight delivery from leg-spinner Hasaranga (3 for 37) while Ishan played pacer Kasun Rajita on the wickets.
Skipper Shikhar Dhawan (29) was also leg before by missing a straight delivery from Hasaranga. Suryakumar and Pandey then took the innings forward. Both the batsmen seemed to be in good form. Both completed India’s century of runs in the 16th over.
Pandey, however, was unfortunately run out after that. Suryakumar hit a straight shot and the ball hit the wickets after being hit by bowler Dasun Shanaka’s hand. Pandey was out of the crease at this time.
In the same over of Shanaka, Hardik Pandya (00) gave a catch to Dhananjay de Silva, which took India’s score to 116 for five in the 18th over.
India completed 150 runs in the 27th over. Suryakumar, playing his second match in the same over, hit a four on Lakshan Sandakan to complete his first half-century in 42 balls, but fell leg before the last ball. He hit six fours in 44 balls.
After this, Krunal got Chahar’s support. Both hit fours on Sandakan but Hasaranga bowled Krunal and dealt a blow to India. Krunal hit three fours in 54 balls.
Chahar and Bhuvneshwar were now at the crease. India needed 67 runs in the last 10 overs. Chahar kept the run pace after hitting Sandakan for a four and then a six, hitting Rajita for two consecutive fours. Chahar, playing the fifth ODI, completed his half-century in 64 balls with a run off Chamira.
India needed 31 runs in the last five overs. Only two runs came off Hasaranga’s over but Bhuvneshwar and Chahar scored 13 runs while hitting Chamira for fours.
Hasaranga scored just one run in the 48th over. India needed 15 runs in the last two overs. Chahar made India’s upper hand heavy with two fours on Chamira. India needed three runs in the final over and Chahar gave victory to the team by hitting a boundary off Rajita’s first ball.
Earlier, Sri Lanka captain Dasun Shanaka won the toss and elected to bat first. Fernando and Minod Bhanuka (36) once again got the team off to a good start, adding 77 runs for the first wicket.
Both Minod and Fernando got life in Chahar’s over. Minod then hit two fours each on both Bhuvneshwar and Chahar, while Fernando with a four on Chahal took the team’s score past 50 runs in the eighth over.
The Indian bowlers then curbed the Sri Lankan batsmen. There were no boundaries in the next five overs. The team got the advantage in the 14th over in the form of the wicket of Minod, who was caught by Pandey off Chahal’s ball. Chahal also got Bhanuka Rajapakse (00) caught by wicketkeeper Ishan Kishan on the next ball.
Fernando and the experienced Dhananjay de Silva (32) then took the score past 100 in the 21st over. Fernando hit the first boundary after eight overs with a four off Krunal Pandya in the 24th over.
In the next over, Fernando completed his half-century in 70 balls with a run off Bhuvneshwar but then was caught by Krunal at mid-on. D’Silva then waved Chahar’s ball in the air and handed Dhawan a simple catch at mid-off.
Chahal, returning to the bowling, bowled Shanaka (16) to make the hosts 172 for five wickets. Meanwhile, Asalanka played some catchy shots. He hit fours on the spin trio of Chahal, Kuldeep Yadav and Krunal.
Chahar gave Sri Lanka the sixth blow by bowling Hasaranga (08). Sri Lanka’s 200 runs were completed in the 41st over. Asalanka completed her first fifty in 56 balls in her fourth match with a four off Kuldeep. Bhuvneshwar dealt a big blow to Sri Lanka by getting Asalanka caught by substitute player Devdutt Padikkal. Karunaratne hit two fours each in the last two overs of Chahar and Bhuvneshwar to take the team’s score past 270 runs.
Disclaimer: This post has been auto-published from an agency/news feed without any modifications to the text and has not been reviewed by an editor.
