(Aug 03), Charith Asalanka, the captain of Sri Lanka, pulled a fast one by dismissing Arshdeep Singh and Shivam Dube off consecutive balls to force a thrilling draw.
The Indian camp was beaming when Shivam Dube hit a boundary in the fourth ball of the 48th over while trailing 231 against Sri Lanka. From the 14 balls, India needed just one more run to win. The players had risen from their seats and were prepared to descend the stairs from the dressing room to commemorate both the Indian men’s team’s winning start to the series and Gautam Gambhir’s first One-Day International (ODI) as head coach. But in the first game of the three-match ODI series in Colombo, Sri Lanka captain Charith Asalanka struck gold when he trapped Dube and then Arshdeep Singh was leg before wicket on consecutive deliveries to force a thrilling draw.
With captain Rohit Sharma smashing a fifty off of 33 balls, India got off to a flying start in the chase. During the first powerplay, the visitors amassed 71 runs without losing a wicket. After making his first half-century as a batsman for Sri Lanka, Dunith Wellalage applied the brakes, dismissing both of the openers, and Washington Sundar, who was promoted to four, was out of the game after just four balls. Following the steadying of the ship by Virat Kohli and Shreyas Iyer, Sri Lanka stormed back with consecutive wickets.
The match was evenly matched at 132 for five. Asalanka and Wanindu Hasaranga dismissed both of KL Rahul and Axar Patel as they attempted to regain momentum for India, making the hosts the clear favorites to win at the R Premadasa Stadium.
But Dube grabbed the momentum, hitting two sixes and a four to cut India’s deficit to just one run, and then everything fell apart in an instant of incoherence. The left-hander was dismissed by Asalanka with one run remaining. Arshdeep, who arrived at the crease with a confident smile on his face, knew that India still had a wicket to spare against Asalanka. The delivery struck the batter’s back leg in line with the leg stump, but he misjudged the length and went for a big slog sweep, which resulted in his being declared leg before wicket.
Social media users took to Arshdeep after the draw and showed him no mercy, drawing comparisons to the notorious dismissal of West Indies player Shannon Gabriel during a Test match in 2017. To earn a spirited draw, West Indies had to hold off seven deliveries. With Roston Chase batting on 101, Gabriel had to dismiss just one ball to put him in strike. Instead, he tried a big shot against a flighted delivery from Yasir Shah, and the ball took an inside edge and crashed into the stumps.
