SL vs IND, 2nd ODI, 2024: Jeffrey Vandersay's 6-33 derailed India's chase and handed over Sri Lanka first win of the series. Sri Lanka beat India and go 1-0 up in three match series.
Brief Scores: Sri Lanka: 240/9 (Avishka Fernando 40, Kamindu Mendis 40, Washington Sundar 3/30) beat India: 208 (Rohit Sharma 64, Axar Patel 44, Jeffrey Vandersay 6/33) by 32 runs.
No. 7 ranked team in ICC rankings, Sri Lanka, fought tooth and nail to post a 32-run win over the no. 1 ranked India in the second ODI at Colombo on Sunday. Sri Lanka posted a fighting total of 240/9 before braving a Rohit Sharma onslaught to post a 32-run win. Sri Lanka are 1-0 up in the series with a match to go.
Sri Lanka post a fighting total
Electing to bat first after winning the toss, Sri Lanka were off to the worst start, losing their opener, Pathum Nissanka, in the first ball of the innings. Nissanka edged it behind to KL Rahul off Mohammed Siraj’s bowling. The second opener, Avishka Fernando (40), and No. 3 Kusal Mendis (30) then posted a stand of 74 runs for the second wicket before the former was dismissed, caught and bowled by Washington Sundar. Kusal soon fell LBW to Sundar.
Sri Lanka were reduced to 136/6 with the Indian spinners coming to the party. However, a vital 72-run stand for the seventh wicket between Dunith Wellalage (39) and Kamindu Mendis (40) helped the team post a fighting total of 240/9. For India, Sundar was the best bowler, taking 3/30.
Read More: SL vs IND, 1st ODI, 2024: Asalanka's double strike helps SL tie game with CWC 2023 runner up
India collapse after Rohit’s blazing start
Rohit Sharma looked to be batting on a different wicket as he took the attack to the Sri Lanka bowlers, reaching his second-straight fifty. He pulled, cut, and drove with utter disdain as he reached his fifty off just 29 balls, with 5 fours and 3 sixes. Rohit and Shubman Gill posted a stand of 97 runs in just 13.3 overs. The captain fell for 64 off 44 balls, mistiming a reverse sweep off Jeffrey Vandersay.
India lost their way post Rohit’s wicket as Vandersay bowled with great control, line, and length while the pitch did the rest with its turn and low bounce. He got Gill caught behind for 35 before Shivam Dube and Virat Kohli fell LBW to him. From 97/0, India were reduced to 147/6 as Shreyas Iyer and KL Rahul fell to the guile of Vandersay, who took all the six wickets. Axar Patel played a cameo of a 44-ball 44 before Sri Lanka captain Charith Asalanka got him caught and bowled. India eventually folded for 208, losing the match by 32 runs.
Statistical Highlights from SL vs IND, 2nd ODI
Rohit is now the fourth-highest run scorer in ODIs for India with 10831 runs. He has overtaken Rahul Dravid, who had scored 10,768 runs in his ODI career.
Rohit has scored his fourth half-century in his last five international innings, including two fifties from his last three innings in the 2024 World T20.
Sundar took 3-30 today. These are his joint-best ODI figures. He had earlier taken 3-30 against West Indies at Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad in February 2022.
Vandersay registered his first ODI fifer in today's game. He took 6/33, taking all the first six Indian wickets to fall in the match.
Asalanka has taken six wickets in the two ODIs vs. India in the series, taking his total tally of ODI wickets to 11. Before the series, he had taken just 5 wickets in 59 ODIs.
This was Sri Lanka’s first win in the last eight ODIs against India. It includes 1 win, 1 tie, and six losses spanning the 2023 Asia Cup and 2023 ODI World Cup.
What's Next
Sri Lanka lead the series 1-0 with a match to go. The first ODI was tied, and therefore, the third and final ODI will be the decider, to be played at Colombo on August 7.
Read More: Rohit Sharma & Virat Kohli: Roles of these battle-hardened veterans in ODIs in Gambhir era
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