Sri Lanka defeated India by 32 runs in 2nd ODI match of the series held on 4th August in Colombo. Jeffrey Vandersay’s six-wicket haul for just 33 runs broke the back of top order Indian batting lineup. With its terrific win Sri Lanka leads with 1-0 in the series.
Sri Lanka won the toss and opted to bat first. They put a total of 240 runs on the scoreboard with the loss of 9 wickets in 50 overs. Pathum Nissanka got out on the first ball of the match but soon Avishka Fernando and Kusal Mendis maintained a partnership of 74 runs. Sri Lanka were 136-6 in 34th over but a crucial 72-run partnership between Dunith Wellalage and Kamindu Mendis helped them to score a competitive total of 240 for 9.
Washington Sundar bowled well to send Avishka Fernando and Kusal Mendis to pavilion. He took 3 wickets with just 30 runs. Kuldeep Yadav also contributed by taking 2 wickets with 33 runs which put Sri Lankan batters in pressure. Axar Patel and Siraj got 1 wicket each.
India was chasing a target of 241 on the pitch that was conducive to spin bowling. Rohit Sharma’s aggressive 64 off 44 balls, featuring five fours and four sixes, gave a great start to India. Alongside Shubman Gill, who contributed a steady 35, the pair helped India to score 97 for one in just 13.3 overs.
Vandersay took Rohit Sharma’s wicket and the match took a turn around for Indian team. Top order of India collapsed after the captain’s dismissal. Though Axar Patel tried to counter attack by scoring 44 runs alongside Washington Sundar who scored 15 runs but it did not succeeded to take India towards a win. India got all out at 208 within 42.2 overs.
Jeffrey Vandersay won the title of “Player of the Match” for his extraordinary performance.
“There was a lot of pressure coming into the side. I am coming out of a layoff. I had to something and it is easier to take credit. I want to give credit to the batters as well. They put on 240 runs and that helped me to bowl in good areas. Hasaranga is out No. 1 spinner. I got to understand the atmosphere of the team and team balance. I have to keep pushing myself. There was assistance in the wicket, I was trying to hit the good areas. Once I got my first wicket, that built up my confidence. Fortunately, I was able to take six wickets,” Jeffrey Vandersay said after the match
Rohit Sharma stated in the post-match presentation, “When you lose a game, everything hurts. It’s not just about those 10 overs. You have to play consistent cricket and we failed to do that today. Little disappointed but these things happen. You got to adapt what’s in front of you. With left-right, we felt it’ll be easier to rotate strike. Credit to Jeffrey, he got six wickets. The reason I got 65 is because of the way I batted. When I am batting like that, there’s a lot of risks taken. If you don’t cross the line, you always feel disappointed. I don’t want to compromise on my intent. We understand nature of this surface, it gets really tough in the middle overs. You have to try to get as many as possible in the powerplay. We weren’t good enough. Don’t want to look too much into how we played. But there’ll be talks about our batting in the middle overs.”
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Source: Indian Express
