On the other hand, a brilliant performance from Jeffrey Vandersay helped Sri Lanka secure an impressive 32 runs win against India at their second ODI played in Colombo last Sunday. This leg-spinner ended up taking six wickets for just 33 runs that also proved key to breaking down the Indian batting and as a result, Sri Lanka went on to win the three-match series by 1-0 following the first match which ended in a draw.
With the track favoring spin, India had to chase down 241. A good start was not enough for them before they were all out for 208 in 42.2 overs.
At first Rohit Sharma’s aggressive knock of 64 off only 44 deliveries with five fours and four sixes laid a solid platform for India along with Shubman Gill who scored a calm innings of 35 helping India reach an outstanding score of 97/1 after 13.3 overs only.
But it was Sharma’s departure – he got caught behind off Vandersay while attempting a reverse sweep – that triggered one of the most dramatic collapses ever witnessed in Indian cricket history.
India went from being comfortably placed at 97/1 to collapsing to be at 147/6, losing as many as six wickets for just fifty runs within ten overs.
In place of Wanindu Hasaranga who had picked up injury, Vandersay took over as architect of this slump taking full advantage of both conditions and weaknesses displayed by Indian batters. His notable dismissals included Shivam Dube, Virat Kohli and Shreyas Iyer who all fell victims to his spinning balls thus showing how tough the pitch conditions are.
While Axar Patel tried launching counterattacks through his hard-fought knock of forty-four off forty-four balls that came about during one stage when he combined with Washington Sundar briefly.
However, Charith Asalanka dismissed him eventually via catching him out, thus effectively ending any realistic hopes of India making a comeback into the game.
Earlier in the day, the Sri Lankan batting was marked by a difficult start against India’s spinners, notably Washington Sundar who ended up with 3/30 and Kuldeep Yadav who also contributed to the pressure on Sri Lanka’s batters with his 2/33.
However, from a painful position of 136/6, Dunith Wellalage and Kamindu Mendis added 72 crucial runs for Sri Lanka so that they could achieve a total score of 240/9. This partnership coupled with some late order hitting helped set an imposing target for Sri Lanka on what was a difficult surface.
