Picture : Sri Lanka Cricket / X
Canny Leg spinner Jeffrey Vandersay’s magical six-wicket haul robbed the roar from India skipper Rohit Sharma’s brutal fifty as Sri Lanka etched an emotional 32-run win over India in the second ODI.
Sri Lanka now lead the three-match series 1-0 after the first match ended in a tie.
India were asked to chase down 241 on a pitch that had plenty of assistance for the spinners, and they ended up at 208 all out in 42.2 overs with Vandersay wrecking them with a haul of six for 33.
A different result loomed as long as skipper Rohit was at the crease, creaming the Lankan bowlers en route to his 64 off 44 balls (5×4, 4×6).
Unmindful of the nature of the pitch, Rohit cut, swept and pulled spinners Dunith Wellalage and Akila Dananjaya and pacer Asitha Fernando to all parts of the ground in the company of a compact Shubman Gill (35, 44b) as India waltzed to 97 in just 13.3 overs. After Rohit fell, India batting collapsed like a ack of cards.
From 97 for one became 116 for two in 17.1 overs and it transpired into even trickier 116 for three four balls later. But more shocks were in store for the Indians as they tumbled to 123 for four, 133 for five and eventually to 147 for six.
Gill drove away from his body for Kamindu Mendis to take a screamer at first slip, Shivam Dube (0) failed to pick a ripping leg-break, Virat Kohli (14) did not read a wrong’un and Shreyas Iyer was defeated by a slider. Dube, Kohli and Shreyas were adjudged leg before, indicating the indecisiveness in their feet and mind.
KL Rahul lasted just two balls before dragging Vandersay’s delivery that pitched outside the channel onto his stumps. Axar Patel (44, 44b) played smart cricket and milked 38 runs for the seventh wicket with Washington Sundar to keep India ticking.
Axar took 14 runs off Charith Asalanka’s first over (6, 4, 4) and later moussed Akila Dananjaya for a six over mid-off. But even that feeble lifeline halted when Axar slapped a catch back to Asalanka (3/20) and the rest was a mere formality.
Earlier, Indian spinners led by Washington Sundar put the batters through a test of skill, but Sri Lanka found just enough fight from their late order to make an acceptable 240 for nine in the second ODI .
Washington (3/30) and Kuldeep Yadav (2/33) were at their smartest on a pitch that offered them plenty of assistance after Lankan captain Charith Asalanka decided to bat first. It required a 72-run association for the seventh wicket between Dunith Wellalage (39) and Kamindu Mendis (40) for them to wriggle out of a stifling 136 for six.
However, the first blow for India was landed by Mohammed Siraj when he had in-form Pathum Nissanka caught by KL Rahul behind the wicket.
A perfect outswinger pitched just outside the off-stump line led Nissanka to his doom. But a recovery phase followed as Avishka Fernando (40, 62b, 5×4) and Kusal Mendis (30, 42b, 3×4) used the freshness of the new ball to add 74 for a rather fluent second wicket stand.
