(Aug 03), While Rohit scorched 58 off a rank turner to lead his team to 71 in 10 overs in a chase of 231, other batsmen never appeared to be at ease against Lankan spinners.
In a thrilling first ODI played here on Friday, Sri Lanka managed to eke out a tie against India despite high-quality spin bowling, thanks in large part to the different ‘track’ that captain Rohit Sharma played on.
As the team attempted to chase 231, captain Rohit struck 58 off 47 balls on a rank turner with inconsistent bounce, leading his team to 71 in 10 overs. However, all other batsmen failed to appear at ease against an army of Sri Lankan spinners, as captain Charith Asalanka claimed wickets off consecutive deliveries to contribute to the 44th tie in ODI cricket history.
It looked like Sri Lanka’s problems would not end when Shivam Dube (25) hit those two sixes and a boundary through the extra cover to tie the scores, but Asalanka made the effort to at least secure a win for the home team.
While Rohit looked flawless during his devastating half-century, the Indian middle-order faltered miserably, demonstrating their incompetence against slow bowlers.
Following a collectively impressive display by the Indian bowling unit, which restricted Sri Lanka to 230 for 8, Rohit’s 58 gave India a devastating start. After that, things took a turn for the worse as Sri Lanka’s string of spinners, including captain Charith Asalanka (3/30 in 8.5 overs), Wanindu Hasaranga (3/58 in 10 overs), Akila Dananjaya (1/140 in 10 overs), and Dunith Wellalage (2/39 in 8 overs), not only choked the run flow but also made breakthroughs when needed.
KL Rahul (31 off 43 balls) appeared to once again play his natural waiting game, which has consistently shown to be detrimental to his team’s cause, on a pitch where Rohit made batting look absurdly easy. Furthermore, by the time he dismissed his wicket, he was unable to guarantee a clear victory.
Axar Patel (33), Shreyas Iyer (24) and Virat Kohli (23), all received starts but were unable to capitalize.
But when compared to every other batter on both teams, Rohit appeared to be playing on a different track. Asitha Fernando bowled the opening ball of India’s innings, and he responded with an 88-meter six over cow corner. He then welcomed debutant pacer Mohamed Shiraz with a couple of boundaries and a slap over deep mid-wicket for a six.
The Lankan bowlers were treated with contempt by Rohit, while Shubman Gill (16) struggled at the other end.
Upon being declared leg-before trying a slog sweep off Dananjaya, the pitch, which appeared to be easy to bat on, began to exhibit its unpredictable nature.
The ball began to rotate a little bit more, and the inconsistent bounce added to the confusion. While Washington Sundar (5) got one that Dananjaya fired in at an angle, Kohli got a skidder and was well ahead of the game. Iyer looked good in his brief innings until Fernando’s in-cutter got past his defense.
Earlier, the hosts had a fighting score thanks to wise fifties from Pathum Nissanka and Dunith Wellalage.
Wellalage (67 not out, 65b, 7×4, 2×6) showed confidence and Nissanka (56, 75b, 9×4) demonstrated focus on a pitch that offered some turn after Lanka captain Charith Asalanka chose to bat first.
After Mohammed Siraj dismissed Avishka Fernando, Sri Lanka’s innings got off to a shaky start, but the hosts staged a mini-recovery thanks to 39 runs added by Nissanka and Kusal Mendis (14), who added a steady second wicket.
Similar to what had happened in the previous T20I series, the Islanders demonstrated a tendency to waste their wickets after that point.
This is not meant to diminish the outstanding effort made by the Indian bowlers, who caused the Lankan hitters to mishit multiple times.
Shivam Dube, who was playing one-day cricket for the first time in five years, defeated Mendis leg-before-head.
In the 27th over, the Lankan innings collapsed to 101 for five, from a comparatively comfortable 46 for two.
After his early difficulties against Kuldeep, Wellalage was pretty remarkable. The young player’s potential was demonstrated by his crunchy back-foot punch through the covers for four off Washington, as well as a few other ramps and scoops.
The left-hander reached his first ODI fifty in 59 balls and helped his team surpass the 200-run threshold, which had seemed unattainable, after adding another 46 with Akila Dhananjaya for the eighth wicket.
