For one moment it looked as if Akila Dananjaya would bowl Sri Lanka to sensational win when he captured 6 wickets for 39 runs in a spell of eight overs, but India had their former captain and the ever reliable Mahendra Singh Dhoni to perform one of his many rescue acts which he is renowned for.
The stage was ideally set for him and he did it with the panache taking on the responsibility to carry India from a precarious 131-7 to a famous three-wicket victory on the Duckworth/Lewis target with 16 balls to spare. It is a win that should go down in the annals of ODI cricket.
Chasing a revised target of 231 in 47 overs after Sri Lanka had scored 236-8, Dhoni who found an able partner in Bhuvneshwar Kumar guided India to victory with an unbroken eighth wicket partnership of 100 off 136 balls.
Kumar displayed his skills as a batsman by mixing caution with aggression to score his maiden ODI half-century remaining unbeaten on 53 when victory was achieved. He faced 80 balls and hit 4 fours and one six.
Dhoni playing a calm and assured role made 45 off 68 balls with a solitary four as he and Kumar frustrated Sri Lanka’s attempt to snatch a win.
Sri Lanka tried every trick in the book to dislodge the pair but they batted sensibly with plenty of overs at hand to take India to a 2-0 lead in the five-match series.
Dananjaya whose previous best was 4/47 against Zimbabwe at Hambantota last month finished with figures of 6 for 54 of 10 overs to take the man of the match award.
India lost seven wickets for 22 runs in 37 balls following the century opening partnership between Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan that at one time looked running away with the match with Dananjaya doing all the damage from one end while the left-arm spin of Milinda Siriwardana kept them tied down at the other.
For Sri Lanka to get anywhere close to beating India they had to bowl them because they had no artillery to defend a total of 236. Although they tried hard with several balls from Malinga, Fernando and Mathews beating the bat they could not dislodge the opening pair Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan who laid the platform with a partnership of 109 off 93 balls.
The pair made run making so easy that they scored at the pace of 6½ runs an over with hardly any effort that the 100 was up by the 15th over. The frequency with which they found the gaps on the field was a lesson for the Lankan batsmen.
Sharma reached his 32nd one-day fifty off 43 balls inclusive of three sixes and four fours before Dananjaya trapped him lbw on the sweep. The following over Mathews pulled off a stunning catch at short fine leg to send back Dhawan for 49 off Siriwardana.
From then onwards it was the Dananjaya show as he wrecked the Indian middle order with brilliant piece of bowling until Dhoni and Kumar took the game away from Sri Lanka.
Sri Lanka’s top order once again failed to put up the required runs on the board. Their four batters could muster only 78 runs in toto.
With half the side out for 121 it looked like Sri Lanka would struggle to get to 200 but a fine half-century from Milinda Siriwardana and his partnership of 91 off 99 balls with Chamara Kapugedera (40) playing in his 100th ODI ensured they batted out the full quota of overs to finish on 236-8 after being invited to bat first.
Siriwardana recalled to the team after being overlooked for the series against Zimbabwe revived the flagging Sri Lanka innings with his third half-century in 18 ODIs. His run a ball knock of 58 comprised two fours and a six.
Jasprit Bumrah ended Siriwardana’s innings as well as that of Kapugedera’s with a spell of three for 14 off three overs that erased any hopes Sri Lanka had of setting India a target beyond 250.
Where Sri Lanka erred in their batting was that they failed to constantly rotate the strike – that is what differentiates good and ordinary sides. There were 41 dot balls in the first 10 overs and overall India were allowed to bowl three maidens.
With the exception of the sixth wicket stand India dominated the innings once again with the Lankan batsmen throwing away good starts.
Niroshan Dickwella was going great guns with 31 off 24 balls that was inclusive of two sixes when chipped a slow ball from Bumrah to Dhawan at mid wicket.
From there on the rot set in as Danushka Gunathilaka (19), Tharanga (9) and Kusal Mendis (19) all fell within a matter of 9.2 overs.
The sweep and reverse sweep that has featured quite often in the Test and one-day series had its plusses and minuses. Yesterday Mendis and Angelo Mathews (20) were both out lbw attempting to sweep straight balls.
Tharanga although he has found himself back in the one-day team is not the ideal number 4. Sri Lanka needs to bring Dinesh Chandimal back at that position. He is no doubt one of the finest batsmen Sri Lanka has within their limited ranks and it is a crime to see him sitting on the sidelines when the team is struggling for quality batsmen.
Tharanga has already been appointed the captain for the one-day and T20 teams and it will be a difficult task to move him anywhere in the order if Chandimal is to make a return. In the circumstances are we to keep playing Tharanga at 4 despite his continued failures.
India lost the services of Hardik Pandya who pulled out of the attack in the 28th over and retired with an injured left knee, but his absence was not felt by India who had enough ammunition in their armoury to keep Sri Lanka down to a moderate total.
India who is having a run of luck not only with the number of victories they have achieved against Sri Lanka on the current tour but also with the toss. They won it for the second consecutive occasion in the series and Kohli had no hesitation in inviting Sri Lanka to bat first.
India with no problems as Sri Lanka facing with their team named an unchanged side while Sri Lanka who lost badly by nine wickets at Dambulla made three changes recalling spinner Akila Dananjaya, left-arm all-rounder Milinda Siriwardana and fast bowler Dushmantha Chameera for Wanindu Hasaranga, Lakshan Sandakan and Thisara Perera.
0 comments:
Post a Comment