(Aug 08), Following a heated altercation between Mohammed Siraj and Kusal Mendis earlier in the innings, Virat Kohli showed no mercy in the series’ final ODI.
With Mohammed Siraj taking out the highly effective Pathum Nissanka with the first ball of the match, India had a fantastic start to the second ODI against Sri Lanka. But in the series decider on Wednesday, there was none of that kind of excitement as the Indian quick took a serious beating.
After leaking boundaries and being thoroughly outmatched by Nissanka in the first three overs, Siraj’s figures for the Indian pacer were 0/22. With India out of options, Siraj’s second spell was equally appalling as he gave up two sixes and a boundary to Avishka Fernando. For India’s lone frontline pacer in the match, Siraj was obviously having a bad day. To make matters worse, it was against a team he loves bowling against.
Perhaps this very frustration put him in a position where he had to deal with Sri Lanka captain Charith Asalanka. Siraj mouthed some words to Kusal Mendis in the 39th over, which the Sri Lankan batsman did not find amusing.
The two continued to spar, Siraj glancing at Mendis and making a motion in the direction of the changing area. But Mendis, who had a perfect 30 and Sri Lanka’s score of 183/3, was having none of it and lunged in the direction of the Indian pacer. After giving Mendis the chirping hand signal in an attempt to get under his skin, Siraj turned back to walk in the direction of his run-up. Clearly, things got heated.
The original master of verbal sparring, Virat Kohli, saw his teammate engage in it and decided to try his hand at it. In contrast to Siraj, Kohli’s target was Sri Lankan captain Charith Asalanka, who came to bat after opener Fernando was removed from the game. None other than debutant Riyan Parag provided a breakthrough for India, who were desperately in need of a wicket.
His leg-break first removed Fernando, who was just shy of a century, and then he trapped Asalanka for ten runs. When the umpire lifted his finger, Kohli executed a farewell that brought back memories of his childhood. Full of energy, Kohli gave the Sri Lankan captain a mouthful as he mentioned “Ben Stokes,” unleashed his trademark roar,
After being eventually limited to 248/7 from 173/1, India became their biggest target of the series. All of Sri Lanka’s batsmen were unable to contribute, with the exception of the top three, as India stormed back in the final 12 overs to keep them below 250.
