The Sri Lanka spinners spun a web around the Indian middle and lower order as India collapsed from 157/3 to 225 allout. Chasing a revised target of 227, Avishka Fernando and Bhanuka Rajapaksa smashed half-centuries to put Sri Lanka on track. There were some late wickets but the hosts managed to hold their nerve and get over the line.
Sri Lanka had not beaten India in an ODI in Sri Lanka since July 2012 but that winless streak has finally come to an end. Sri Lanka produced a spirited show with both bat and ball in the third ODI to not only end the win drought against India but also to gain vital ICC ODI Super League points.
India were in a solid position half way through their innings and were looking good to post a big score. It was an innings of two halves for India. After being put into bat, they motored along nicely to 147/3 in 23 overs before the rain came down.
Shikhar Dhawan got off to a fluent start but Dushmantha Chameera prized out the stand-in Indian skipper. Prithvi Shaw and Sanju Samson got fluent 40s but couldn’t convert their starts. They even shared a 74-run stand for the second wicket but both batters fell in quick succession.
Suryakumar Yadav looked comfortable at the crease once again and was going great guns. However, the Sri Lankan spinners stepped up and India collapsed. Praveen Jayawickrama got rid off Manish Pandey in the 25th over before the dangerous duo of Suryakumar Yadav (40) and Hardik Pandya (19) were dismissed in the space of 15 balls. Akila Dananjaya then came in and got two wickets in an over as the debutant pair of Krishnappa Gowtham and Nitish Rana were sent back to the hut.
Rahul Chahar and Navdeep Saini chipped in with 13 and 15 respectively which dragged India’s score to 225. Akila Dananjaya and Jayawickrama finished with three wickets each while Chameera picked up a couple.
In reply, Sri Lanka got off to a brisk start as Avishka Fernando kept finding the boundaries regularly. Minod Bhanuka looked sedate at the other end and the hosts had raced off to 35/0 in 5.2 overs before Bhanuka swept one off Gowtham straight to square-leg. That was the only early success India had.
Avishka Fernando joined hands with Bhanuka Rajapaksa and shared an excellent stand of 109 runs for the second wicket. Both batters put the pressure right back on the Indian bowlers and the scoring rate never fell under 6. Both Fernando and Rajapaksa recorded half-centuries.
Chetan Sakariya came back and produced a fine spell where he constantly took pace off the ball and picked up a couple of wickets. The left-arm seamer got rid off Rajapaksa and Dhananjaya de Silva in successive overs to leave Sri Lanka at 151/3. While they were still in a dominant position, Sri Lanka knew the work wasn’t done yet.
Charith Asalanka walked in and chipped in with a handy knock of 24 and shared a crucial 43-run stand with Fernando who batted really smartly for his 76. It was Hardik Pandya who got the breakthrough for India when 33 runs were required. He got Asalanka LBW with a low full-toss and that opened the gates a bit for India.
Rahul Chahar came in and picked up three wickets in a hurry to send a few jitters in the Sri Lankan camp. But India didn’t have enough runs in the bank. Ramesh Mendis made an unbeaten 15 towards the end and Akila Dananjaya chipped in with a boundary and wrapped up the chase.
This was only the second ODI win for Sri Lanka in 2021 and in this ICC ODI Super League. They have managed to gain 10 points and that has lifted them to the 11th spot on the Super League points table.
Brief scores
India 225 allout (Shaw 49, Samson 46, Yadav 40, Akila Dananjaya 3/44, Jayawickrama 3/59) lost to Sri Lanka 227/7 (Fernando 76, Rajapaksa 65, Rahul Chahar 3/54, Sakariya 2/34) by 3 wickets.
