Saturday Nov 16, 2024
Saturday Nov 16, 2024
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Shubman Gill and Rohit Sharma gave India a good start posting 75 for the first wicket
Wanindu Hasaranga celebrates the wicket of Virat Kohli
Pathum Nissanka held the Sri Lankan top order with a half-century
Dunith Wellalage rejoices his maiden ODI fifty
By Sa’adi Thawfeeq
Dunith Wellalage played a gem of an innings to give Sri Lanka a competitive score and then picked up the wickets of the two openers and held a crucial catch as the first ODI against India ended in an exciting tie at the R. Premadasa International Cricket Stadium yesterday.
India chasing a target of 231 were dismissed in the 48th over for 230 equalling Sri Lanka’s total of 230-8 to produce the first-ever tied ODI result in Sri Lanka.
Previously, Sri Lanka had been involved in five tied ODI matches, but this was the first instance it has happened at home. The last occasion Sri Lanka tied an ODI match was in 2016 against England at Trent Bridge.
At 132-5 in the 25th over, the game was poised nicely with K.L. Rahul (31 off 43 balls) and Axar Patel (33 off 57 balls) batting sensibly putting together a stand of 57 off 92 balls, when Rahul tried to slog sweep Wanindu Hasaranga and top edged a catch to midwicket. That high-risk shot brought Sri Lanka back into the contest.
Charith Asalanka bowling his part-time off-breaks to good effect accounted for the well-set Axar and when Kuldeep Yadav fell to Wanindu Hasaranga, Sri Lanka were on top. The pendulum once again swung towards India with Shivam Dube smashing two sixes and a boundary. India needed just one run to win but Asalanka, Sri Lanka’s new ODI Captain provided the killer blow by trapping Dube and Arshdeep Singh lbw off successive deliveries to deny India a win and force a tie. It was a fine example of the Captain leading his team from the front. India lost their last five wickets for 41 runs in 50 balls.
Sri Lanka came to this game on the back of a 3-0 whitewash in the T20I series and this tie against the world no. 1 ranked team will certainly boost their morale for the rest of the series.
Opting to bat, Sri Lanka recovered from 101-5 to post a fighting total of 230, thanks to 21-year-old Wellalage’s maiden half-century (67* off 65 balls, 7 fours, 2 sixes). He stitched together three crucial partnerships that produced 123 runs. With Janith Liyanage (20) he put on 41 off 47 balls for the sixth wicket, with Hasaranga (24), 36 off 52 for the seventh and with Akila Dananjaya (17), 46 off 39 for the eighth.
In reply, Rohit Sharma got his team off to a flier with a 33-ball fifty (7 fours, 3 sixes) and India scored 71 without losing a wicket in the first powerplay. The Sri Lankan spinners then applied the brakes. Wellalage, the man who starred with the bat, struck twice in two overs to remove both the Indian openers – Sharma for 58 and a subdued Shubman Gill for 16 to pick up the Player of the Match award. Washington Sundar, promoted to four, perished after hitting a boundary. The experienced duo of Virat Kohli (24) and Shreyas Iyer (23) steadied the ship somewhat with a stand of 43 off 45 balls but Sri Lanka tweaked them out in back-to-back overs. In the end it was the game of cricket that won with Sri Lanka tying a game that was well in India’s grasp.
The second ODI of the series takes place at the same venue on Sunday.
Tied ODI matches involving Sri Lanka
