Sri Lanka’s spin quartet of Dunith Wellalage, Wanindu Hasaranga , Charith Asalanka and Akila Dhananjaya stunned India in the opening ODI in Colombo to force a thrilling tie. However, Dunith Wellalage and Akila Dananjaya led the fightback which was then carried further deep into the chase by Wanindu Hasaranga and Charith Asalanka as the island nation managed to avoid defeat for the first time since India arrived on their shores a week ago.
Dunith Wellalage’s maiden ODI fifty dragged Sri Lanka to 230/8 in the opening ODI against India in Colombo. Dunith Wellalage walked out to bat with the hosts in deep trouble, having lost half the side for just 101 on the board. The lower order rallied around the youngster to then lift Sri Lanka out of trouble to ensure they post a fighting total. India were firm favourites to take a 1-0 lead after being set a modest 231 to win the game and that status was further enhanced by a blistering opening stand.
Pitch and Toss
“It doesn’t look too bad (the pitch). It is pleasant out here. But you wear black or woolen clothes then you are sweating up a storm. This pitch was used for the LPL Qualifier but you can’t really tell as the footmarks have disappeared. Very little grass covering. It may turn. And it could be a little tacky. I expect there to be some runs and batting to be easier under lights,” reckons Scott Styris.
Sri Lanka skipper Charith Asalanka won the toss and chose to bat with Mohammed Shiraz making his debut for his team. Team India skipper Rohit Sharma bowling first is back a solid playing 11 which includes likes of Virat Kohli, KL Rahul and Shreyas Iyer.
Pathum Nissanka the star of the initial stages for Sri Lanka.
Sri Lanka had a more sedate powerplay in which they played out 45 dots and scored just 33 runs. Mohammed Siraj and Dube made early inroads for India, but Pathum Nissanka blunted them, and India’s spinners, with a 67-ball half-century. India could have cut his innings short on 20 had Siraj not dropped a difficult chance at fine leg in the powerplay.
Washington – picked ahead of Riyan Parag, India’s second-most used bowler in the T20I series – though continued to pose a threat with his turn and bounce, as did Kuldeep Yadav. After ripping a couple of deliveries past the outside edge of Asalanka, Kuldeep had the Sri Lanka captain guiding his stock ball straight to Rohit at first slip for 14 off 21 balls.
It was Axar who had set the scene for the day when he found immediate turn and bounce to have Nissanka checking his drive to extra cover. Axar then got his fifth ball to kick up and rag away past the outside edge like Rangana Herath used to back in the day in Sri Lanka. With the pitch offering plenty of purchase to the spinners, Axar didn’t go searching for the magic ball and simply tossed the ball up into the footmarks created by Arshdeep.
The run rate was still well below par given Kusal Mendis’ false start where he struggled to get going. His misery came to an end when Dube trapped him lbw to fetch his first wicket in the format. While Nissanka kept going strong at one end, the hosts continuously lost wickets at the other. The likes of Sadeera Samarawickrama and Asalanka failed to make significant contributions and Nissanka departing immediately after going past fifty didn’t help matters either,
Dunith Wellalage rallies Sri Lanka to 230 after 50 overs
Dunith Wellalage and Akila Dananjaya led the fightback which was then carried further deep into the chase by Wanindu Hasaranga and Charith Asalanka as the island nation managed to avoid defeat for the first time since India arrived on their shores a week ago.
Dunith Wellalage then rallied with the lower order, adding stands of 41 with Janith Liyanage, 36 with Hasaranga and 46 with Dananjaya. Wellalage, who was promoted to No. 7 ahead of Hasaranga, countered Washington’s offspin, hitting him for 20 off 21 balls. He even got inventive, reverse-sweeping Washington over the two slips and ramping Siraj fine of deep third for fours.
When Arshdeep pitched one in his arc, Dunith Wellalage showed glimpses of his power, too, clearing Siraj at wide long-on. He proceeded to bring up his maiden ODI fifty, off 59 balls.
By this time, not only did Sri Lanka desperately need a partnership, they required a run rate boost as well given they were scoring at less than four an over. Janith Liyanage and Wellalage steadied the innings before Axar broke the flourishing partnership. Dunith Wellalage was then involved in useful stands alongside Hasaranga and Dananjaya to ensure Sri Lanka didn’t cave in. Eventually, he managed to bring up his maiden fifty in ODI cricket and ensured his side finished with 230 on the board, a total that was just about enough to ensure they didn’t lose.
Rohit Sharma gives India a blistering start as Indian middle order failed to capitalize
Led by a marauding Rohit Sharma, India got off to a flier as they looked to make a mockery of the chase. Despite not making a clean connection on both occasions, Rohit managed to fetch a six and a four in the very first over to signal his intentions. Shubman Gill got into the act with a boundary each in the next two overs. Debutant Mohamed Shiraz faced Rohit’s wrath as the Indian captain smashed him for two fours and followed it up with a six as India knocked off 40 runs in just the first four overs.
That forced the Sri Lankan captain to turn to spin as early as in the fifth over. The move didn’t stop Rohit as he welcomed Wellalage with two fours in his opening over although one was a streaky one. While Rohit went past another fifty in ODIs, India’s run rate finally dipped when Wellalage bounced back by bowling 12 dots in a row to Gill.
That pressure culminated in the opener getting dismissed by the spinner in his attempt to break free. Wellalage’s evening became a lot more eventful when Rohit failed to connect a sweep and got trapped lbw in his next over.
Wanindu Hasaranga, Charitha Asalanka pick up three-fers to force a tie after Dunith Wellalage’s all round show to force a tie
Sri Lanka’s seam attack has been ravaged by injury and illness – no less than five of their fast bowlers are unavailable – but their spin attack is so well stocked that they could afford to leave out Maheesh Theekshana and still field four spinners, including Asalanka. Wrist spinner Hasaranga, mystery spinner Akila Dananjaya and left-arm finger spinner Dunith Wellalage also played their roles with the ball in the win.
It was Wellalage who triggered India’s slide by snagging Shubman Gill and Rohit Sharma in successive overs after they had forged a 75-run opening stand off 76 balls. Dananjaya, who turned the ball sharply both ways, accounted for Washington Sundar, who had been promoted to No. 4, ahead of both Shreyas Iyer and KL Rahul. As for Hasaranga, he came away with three wickets, including the big one of Virat Kohli for 24 off 32 balls.
Hasaranga kept Kohli to five off ten balls before he trapped him with a fizzing skidder. Rahul then repaired India’s innings with a 57-run partnership for the sixth wicket with Axar Patel. After having played risk-free cricket for the most part of his innings, Rahul tried to slog-sweep Hasaranga only to miscue it to midwicket for 31 off 43 balls. Axar then looked to helm India’s chase of 231, but Asalanka had him nicking off with a sharp off break for 33 off 57 balls. Dube played a late cameo, but it was not enough for India to get across the line.
India sprung a surprise by promoting Washington Sundar up the order but it was the Sri Lankans who quickly managed to turn things around by sending the allrounder back to the pavilion for a single-digit score. Virat Kohli and Shreyas Iyer applied the brakes on Sri Lanka’s march for a brief period during which the latter made a brisk start.
On his part, Kohli picked successive boundaries off Dunith Wellalage to put India back on track again before the home side fought back. Hasaranga got the big wicket of Kohli and in the very next over, Shreyas saw his stumps get rearranged.
While the required rate wasn’t an issue, India still had a huge task in hand given they needed almost 100 at that point with only KL Rahul, Axar Patel and Shivam Dube left among the recognized batters. Rahul and Axar calmed things down in the middle for India with a watchful half-century stand but Sri Lanka were always a wicket or two away from storming back into the contest. And they got that opening in the form of Hasaranga who dismissed the resolute Rahul which was then followed by Axar’s wicket in the following over.
The onus was then on Dube to finish the job alongside the tail. India went through a nervy period of play right at the end but Dube also managed to clear the ropes a couple of times and smash a boundary to draw level. However, in yet another twist despite needing just a run, Dube and Arshdeep were trapped lbw by Asalanka off successive deliveries as the match witnessed a thrilling tie.
Presentations and Road Ahead
Charith Asalanka the Sri Lanka skipper said : I did (believe we could defend the total), but we should have done a bit more well to restrict them under 230. In the afternoon, it turned more. Under lights, it became easier to bat. (Bowling himself) The left-hander came in to bat and I thought I could bowl as it spun a lot. I am happy about the the energy in the field and the way the boys played in the second half. Dunith’s knock and Nissanka batted extremely well.
Rohit Sharma the Indian skipper said : The scores are gettable, it’s just that you have to bat well to get that score. We batted well in patches. There was no consistent momentum through the game for us. We started really well with the bat but we knew the game will start after 10 overs once the spinners come in to bowl.
We had the upper hand to start with, then we lost a couple of wickets and fell behind the game. With the partnership that KL and Axar had, we again came back into the game pretty well.
In the end, little disappointing, 14 balls, 1 run to get. These things happen. Sri Lanka played well. In the end, it was a fair result. It (pitch) remained the same. There was bite in the first 25 overs when we bowled and it was the same for them as well. As the game went on, the seam wore off for both teams and it was a bit easier to bat.
It’s not where you can just come and play your shots and get runs. You have to apply yourself and dig in really well to get that score. Proud of the way how we fought till the end. The game shifted towards both teams at different times. It was important to hold the nerve and stay in the game. We should have got that one run.
Dunith Wellalage Player of the Match for his all round efforts said : I came with a plan. The wicket was turning. Spinners bowled really well, I wanted to put their bowlers under pressure. Me and Janith Liyanage wanted to put some partnership. After that, Wanindu Hasaranga came and we had a good partnership.
The wicket was slow. We planned to score 220. Wicket was little bit good during the second innings. Our skipper and Wanindu Hasaranga changed the game. We played a good match today.
Sri Lanka will be relieved. After three dramatic collapses in the T20Is, another one was on the cards when the Indian spinners were operating in the middle overs. But the lower-order order, especially 21-year-old Wellalage, bailed them out of trouble. There were some unforced errors made by both teams in the second innings and eventually the game ended in a tie with back-to-back reviews.