‌SL vs IND | Twitter reacts to Wellalage and Lankan spinners produce epic deadlock to deny Indian win

SportsCafe Desk

BySportsCafe Desk, SportsCafe Editor

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587 balls of play wasn’t enough to get a winner in the India versus Sri Lanka first ODI. Fifties from Pathum Nissanka and Dunith Wellalage were backed by three-fers from Wanindu Hasaranga and Charith Asalanka as Rohit Sharma’s flamboyant fifty went in vain with a tied affair in Colombo.

Brief Scores: SL: 230/8 [Wellalage: 67, Nissanka: 56; Axar: 2/33] tied with India: 230 (47.5)  [Rohit: 58, Axar: 33; Asalanka: 3/30]

Winning the toss and opting to field first under overcast conditions did not turn out to be a fruitful decision for Sri Lanka as openers Pathum Nissanka and Avishka Fernando struggled against the laterally moving new ball. Mohammed Siraj drew first blood, removing Avishka in the third over before Kusal Mendis accompanied Nissanka for a 39-run stand until the 13th over. The ploy to bring Dube as a second change bowler worked well for India, followed by Axar Patel and Washington Sundar making further inroads as the ball turned square with uneven bounce. Sri Lanka’s score read 101/5 in 27 overs before Dinith Wellalage and Janith Liyange soaked pressure and counterpunched with a few fancy strokes, steering the Lions to 142/6 before Sundar outfoxed him in the 35th over. Wanindu Hasaranga entered the fray and contributed 24 runs in a 36-run partnership before Wellalage switched gears with Akila Dhananjaya’s assist, propelling the hosts to a 230/8 tally in 50 overs.

Rohit Sharma kicked off the chase on a high by smacking a six on the second ball of the innings. While Shubman Gill shepherded inside the first powerplay, the Indian captain attacked the opposition bowlers left, right, and center. The Indian contingent reached 55 by the sixth over before the Mumbaikar raced to a 33-ball fifty with a six to steer them to 71/0 in ten overs. A couple of tight overs followed before Gill departed in the 13th over off Wellalage. The all-rounder struck for the second time in the 15th over with No. 4 Washington Sundar following suit in the immediate next over as India’s score read 98/3 in 18 overs at Drinks. Shreyas Iyer and Virat Kohli’s fourth wicket stand didn’t extend long as the duo fell prey to the spinners before Rahul and Axar Patel absorbed pressure and milked their way avoiding unnecessary risks. The right and left-handed pair orchestrated 67 runs from 92 balls to bring India back into the contest before Hasaranga broke the stand in the 40th over. Axar followed suit in the next over, sprinkling rays of hope in the home camp once again. Kuldeep and Shivam Dube kept the scoreboard ticking with an odd six from the all-rounder before Hasaranga cleaned up the former in the 45th over. With 20 runs needed from 33 balls, Siraj survived the spinners at one end with Dube extracting the boundaries before Asalanka trapped the Mumbaikar with scores leveled. Despite 14 balls in hand, and the tailenders around, Arshdeep chose to heave the ball, only to get lbw, thereby leading to a tie.

Its a tie

Dramatic end

Something wrong

New milestone

Just continued

Missing him

Better than him

Lol

Fitness matters

Hangover of IPL

 

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