Image Credit- AP
After winning the toss, Sri Lanka elected to bat first on a pitch that allowed the spinners to stop, grip, and turn the ball savagely at points. Amazingly, they rallied from six down for less than 150 runs. Down the order, Dunith Wellalage had a significant impact by scoring at a run per ball while defying the circumstances at the R Premadasa Stadium.
At the beginning of India’s chase, Rohit Sharma defied the conditions to an even more remarkable degree, putting the team well ahead of the asking rate with a blistering half-century. Subsequently, India crumbled in the face of Sri Lanka’s spinners, and before they reached 140, half of their team had returned to the dressing room.
All of these incidents occurred during Friday’s first ODI and again two days later as Sri Lanka attempted to win this Indian white-ball tour. In the third and final Twenty20 International, they had drawn, but India had won the Super Over. Also, they had tied the opening ODI.
When Sri Lanka finally managed to surpass their previous performance, their hero wasn’t even a member of their starting lineup. In the course of 29 balls, Rohit, Shubman Gill, Shivam Dube, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, and KL Rahul were removed by Jeffrey Vandersay, shredding the core of India’s batting order from 97 for no loss to 147 for 6.
India was unable to rebound from a similar collapse on Friday, but they were unable to do so this time either. With Vandersay mainly out of the attack, Axar Patel and Washington Sundar put them within 56 runs of their target with a 38-run stand for the seventh wicket. However, there was another flashback to Friday right as India appeared to be gaining ground. With his occasional off-spin, Charith Asalanka had claimed three wickets at that point. Now, he returned and removed Axar and Washington in consecutive overs, and that was pretty much it.
For the first time since July 2021, Sri Lanka defeated India in an ODI by 32 runs. Prior to Friday’s draw, they had lost six of their previous seven meetings. With his 6 for 33, Vandersay carried on a great tradition by becoming the sixth bowler from Sri Lanka to achieve a six-for or better in an ODI against India, following Muthiah Muralidaran, Ajantha Mendis, Angelo Mathews, and Akila Dananjaya.
Ultimately, the combined numbers of India’s spinners, which included Rohit for two overs, were 6 for 112 in thirty-one overs. Their three seamers finished with 1 for 111 from 19, including Dube who bowled two overs. With five spinners compared to India’s three and a bit, Sri Lanka had a significant impact on the outcome.