India romped home with ease in the first ODI as India’s 25t Shik as they chased down a target of 263 with 80 balls and seven wickets to spare. Sri Lanka were decent with the bat but couldn’t capitalize on the key moments. With the ball, they lacked any venom as well and thus couldn’t cause any trouble to the visitors.
Sri Lanka started off quite well with the bat, and as they 2were at 85/1 in 16 overs. The top three got off to solid starts. Avishka Fernando scored a fluent 35, while Minod Bhanuka and Bhanuka Rajapaksa scored 20 odd runs as well. But none of them could really kick on and get that big score. The latter two were dismissed in the same over, and since then, Sri Lanka played catch-up.
However, Chamika Karunaratne’s attacking knock of 43 helped Sri Lanka to a respectable total of 262. Meanwhile, the bowling couldn’t stop the strong Indian batting line-up. Almost everyone was taken for runs, and no one could really exhibit control.
Meanwhile, India were clinical with the bat. Each batter in the top five looked fluent, and each of them scored in excess of 25. The bowling was quite good as well. Bhuvneshwar Kumar looked a touch out of sorts while Hardik Pandya was a little expensive in the five overs he bowled.
However, the spinners were the ones who called the shots in the middle overs and controlled the game.
Thus, India will be looking to continue the good work. On the other hand, Sri Lanka will be desperate to bounce back. Their position in the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup Super League continues to dip, and time is running out for them.
Key Players
Dhananjaya de Silva has shown flashes of brilliance time and again. He smacked an unbeaten 55 in the third ODI against Bangladesh and that came in Sri Lanka’s win. He even got a fine 91 in the second ODI in England. But at times, he has just thrown it away like he did in the first ODI against India. He has scored 183 runs from six games while averaging 36.60 in this ICC ODI Super League. The off-spinning all-rounder has constantly got starts, but he throws it away quite often. With the entire batting line-up quite inexperienced, the onus is on someone like Dhananjaya de Silva to step up.
Dushmantha Chameera lacked control in the first ODI as he conceded 42 runs from the seven overs that he bowled. He gave away 26 runs in the first three overs as Prithvi Shaw took him to the cleaners and was much better in the other overs. However, the 29-year-old fast bowler will continue to be the key for Sri Lanka. They will bank on him to provide the early breakthroughs and make some inroads against a strong Indian batting line-up. He has been one of the most consistent performers for Sri Lanka and has returned with 14 wickets in this ICC ODI Super League.
Shikhar Dhawan continued to show why he is such a force in 50-over cricket. The stand-in Indian skipper anchored the run-chase of 263 beautifully as he scored an unbeaten 86. It was his fourth half-century in this ICC ODI Super League, where he has now amassed 375 runs from seven innings. Moreover, his rich vein of form against Sri Lanka continued. It was his third successive 50+ score against them. Dhawan now has scored 1069 runs at an average of 76.36 against Sri Lanka, which includes four hundreds and six fifties.
Kuldeep Yadav was finally amongst the wickets and bowled a good spell in the first ODI. The chinaman spinner has looked out of sorts and short in confidence for a while now. However, he bowled well and looked in control. In fact, he was the one who got India back in the contest with a double-wicket over. Kuldeep finished with figures of 9-1-48-2, and this performance will definitely help him revive some sort of confidence. Hence, he will look to back this up with another strong performance as he looks to force his way back into the first-choice Indian team.
Prediction
India have absolutely dominated Sri Lanka in ODI cricket. The ‘Men in Blue’ have won 25 matches, and Sri Lanka have won just six (one tie) out of the 32 ODIs that these two teams have played since the start of 2011. Moreover, Sri Lanka have recorded just two bilateral ODI series wins over India, the last of which came way back in 1997. Since then, there have been a couple of drawn series’ and nine Indian wins.
India showcased their depth, talent and power in the first ODI. Their bowling was a touch inconsistent, but the batting, despite missing most of their first-choice players, showed its might. Hence, they will once again start as overwhelming favourites. Sri Lanka need to pull off a heist to save the series and pull one back.
