'It was unbelievable' - Charith Asalanka credits Jeffrey Vandersay for Sri Lanka's epic win over India in 2nd ODI

Charith Asalanka's Sri Lanka National Cricket Team hosted Rohit Sharma's India National Cricket Team in the second ODI of the three-match series at the R Premadasa Stadium in Colombo on Sunday, August 4.

Charith Asalanka's team won the toss and elected to bat first. They were off to a poor start as Pathum Nissanka was cleaned up for a duck. However, Avishka Fernando and Kusal Mendis batted well and didn't let the Indian bowlers put them under pressure.

After that, Charith Asalanka, Dunith Wellalage, and Kamindu Mendis chipped in with great contributions. Also, Akila Dananjaya and Sadeera Samarawickrama made good runs and Sri Lanka eventually posted 240/9 on the board.

For the India National Cricket Team, Washington Sundar (3), Kuldeep Yadav (2), Mohammed Siraj (1) and Axar Patel (1) were among the wickets.

I was pretty happy with the score - Charith Asalanka

When it came to defending the total, Sri Lanka bowlers did a poor job in the first half of the innings and were at the receiving end of Rohit Sharma's assault. The Indian skipper looked ultra-aggressive, and he smoked the Sri Lankan bowlers all over the park.

Jeffrey Vandersay was the one who staged the comeback for Sri Lanka. He first removed Rohit Sharma and then went on to pick 5 more wickets to complete a 6-wicket haul. Charith Asalanka did the rest of the job with his 3 wickets as Sri Lanka bundled out India for 208 and won by 32 runs.

At the post-match presentation ceremony, Sri Lanka skipper Charith Asalanka said that he was happy with the total his team posted. Asalanka also showered rich praise on Jeffrey Vandersay, giving the entire credit to the spinner for the win.

When asked about having a number of spin-bowling options available in the team, Charith Asalanka said that he is happy with that because it's a good problem that every team would want.

While talking about his own role, Charith Asalanka said that he is a battter, who can roll his arms over when needed. Charith Asalanka elaborated:

"I was pretty happy with the score. 240 was good enough. As a captain, these kind of problems (plenty of spin options) I need to have.

"It was an unbelievable spell by him (Vandersay). They were more than 90 runs when he came in to bowl. I am mainly a batter, I have to score runs. After that, I can bowl a few overs."

Notably, Charith Asalanka has been operating with the ball for Sri Lanka National Cricket Team in the ongoing series and he has been highly impactful, putting the Indian batters under pressure with his spin-bowling performances on the Colombo surface.

The third and final ODI match of the India tour of Sri Lanka 2024 will be hosted by the R Premadasa Stadium in Colombo. The match between the Rohit Sharma-led side and Charith Asalanka-led side will be held on Wednesday, August 7.