A brilliant bowling performance by Pradeep Jayawickrama [3/59] and Akila Dananjaya[3/44] and half-centuries from Avishka Fernando [76] and Bhanuka Rajapaksa [655] has helped Sri Lanka break their 10-match ODI losing streak against India on home soil and claim 10 crucial Super League points in Colombo on Friday.
Defending an under-par total of 225 [DLD target of 227], India needed wickets in the first ten overs to give themselves a chance to stay in the contest. And, while they did got rid of Minod Bhanuka, the calculated onslaught by opener Avishka Fernando, who notched up his second half-century of the series, and the stylish Bhanuka Rajapaksa, backed up with some poor bowling and abysmal fielding by the visitors kept Sri Lanka in the driver’s seat in the final ODI.
Avishka Fernando once again displayed his skills to the hilt as he took the attack to the Indian seamers as well as spinners, serving as a bedrock of the Sri Lankan batting during the run-chase.
India got their first wicket in the form of stumper Bhanuka in the 6th over when the southpaw found Chetan Sakariya at square-leg to perfection. The dismissal gave Krishnappa Gowtham his maiden wicket in international cricket.
However, lack of bowling depth and poor line and length by the likes of Navdeep Saini, Hardik Pandya, Krishnappa Gowtham meant India was never able to apply any sort of pressure on Fernando and Rajapaksa.
What made matters worse was the inept catching that led to Rajapaksa get as many as three chances. Chetan Sakariya, Shikhar Dhawan, and Nitish Rana were the three culprits as the left-hander made optimal use of it rack up a brilliant half-century.
His luck, however, ran out as Krishnappa Gowtham completed a fine catch at backward square-leg to give Sakariya his maiden wicket. Sakariya then backed it up with a brilliant back-of-the-hand slower ball which proceeded to flummox Dhananjaya de Silva to the hilt.
Early into your career, it's all about doing everything by yourself ?
A wonderful caught & bowled dismissal from Chetan Sakariya ?
Follow #SLvIND LIVE ? https://t.co/7h1TUlZTzGpic.twitter.com/C35KpK8Lf0
— ESPNcricinfo (@ESPNcricinfo) July 23, 2021
Silva wasn’t even looking at the ball when the ball kissed his glove and lobbed up in the air. Sakariya completed an easy catch to give Sri Lanka back-to-back blows.
Fernando and Asalanka calmed the Sri Lankan nerves by stitching 43 runs in the next seven overs before Hardik Pandya dislodged the latter for 24. Rahul Chahar dismissed skipper Shanaka, who chipped the leggie straight to Pandey at cover, in the following over. Chahar could have had Mendis on the very next delivery but for Prithvi Shaw, who shelled it at Gully.
Chahar, however, continued to impress and he eventually dislodged Avishka Fernando by inducing an outside edge of the latters bat to claim his 2nd wicket. Shaw, this time, did not make a mistake.
He [3/54] claimed his 3rd wicket in the form of Chamika Karunaratne in a classical leg-spinner dismissal where he drew the batter before zipping the ball past his outside edge. Sanju Samson did the rest with a brilliant stumping.
However, it was too little, too late for Team India as Ramesh Mendis and Akila Dananjaya took Sri Lanka past the finishing line in the 44th over.
India falter against spin as Akila Dananjaya and Praveen Jayawickrama run riot in the middle-overs
Earlier, Indian captain Shikhar Dhawan won the toss and he had no hesitation in opting to bat first.
Shikhar Dhawan got India off to a whirlwind start as he smashed Dhananjaya de Silva for three fours in the 2nd over.
But, a loose flashy drive outside the off-stump led to the southpaw’s downfall thanks to Dushmanta Chameera in the very next over.
Prithvi Shaw and debutant Sanju Samson then proceeded to treat the fans with exquisite stroke play for the next 12 overs or so.
The talented pair accumulated as many as 74 runs for the 2nd wicket before Shaw (49) once again fell against the run-of-play as he got trapped in front in an attempt to flick the ball on the on-side.
Sanju Samson (46) flattered to deceive again as he uppishly chipped Jayawickrama to the cover region, squandering yet another promising start.
Suryakumar Yadav survived an LBW scare off Jayawickrama on the first ball of the 23rd over when he missed an attempted slog sweep.
Yadav was given out by the on-field umpire, Kumar Dharmasena but he successfully challenged the review as the ball-tracking confirmed that the impact would have been outside the off-stump.
Sri Lanka came out all guns blazing after the game resumed post the rain break.
On a surface that was gripping substantially, the spinners made merry. The left-arm orthodox Jayawickrama dismissed Manish Pandey and a dangerous-looking Hardik Pandya within a space of few overs.
Akila Dananjaya then joined the party big time as he dealt a body blow on the visitors by trapping a well-set Surya plumb in front of the wicket.
Dananjaya backed it up with wickets of the debutant duo of Nitish Rana and Krishnappa Goutham and while Navdeep Saini and Rahul Chahar did hang around to take the score to the 225-run mark, Karunaratne and Chameera knocked them over to restrict India to 227 in 43.1 overs.
Here’s how Twitter reacted:
Sri Lanka > India. #Cricket
— Daniel Alexander (@daniel86cricket) July 23, 2021
India can't win finals. #Cricket
— Daniel Alexander (@daniel86cricket) July 23, 2021
A win .. A win … A win for SL #SlvInd Well done on hanging in there and getting over the line .. Relief indeed .. but a win would bring belief and more to work with than when the series began.
— Russel Arnold (@RusselArnold69) July 23, 2021
SL's first ODI victory vs India at home in 9 long years. Phew! #IndvsSL
— Srini Mama (@SriniMaama16) July 23, 2021
First ODI win for Sri Lanka under Dasun Shanaka and more importantly another 10 points for them in the ICC Super League!
What a comeback by the young team after losing a game they should’ve won and they won this without their best player as well. ??#SLvIND pic.twitter.com/QGvLheS8AY
— Sakun (@Sakun_SD) July 23, 2021
Congratulations Team India on the series win. Away wins always special??? Set batsmen not making it big cost us today. That's where they can learn from @ImRo45 and @imVkohli. Dropped catches, 25+ extras hurt too. Congrats on today's win @OfficialSLC ?? They needed this. #SLvIND
— Wasim Jaffer (@WasimJaffer14) July 23, 2021
Sri Lanka win! ?
Half-centuries from Fernando and Rajapaksa propel the hosts to a three-wicket victory despite a late slide.
India still win the series 2-1.#SLvIND | https://t.co/eLmZty22kE pic.twitter.com/Fbc8lRwh8y
— ICC (@ICC) July 23, 2021
Congratulations to @daniel86cricket on winning the one-off dead match series 1-0. pic.twitter.com/Wcx5AdpYKd
— Saurabh Malhotra (@MalhotraSaurabh) July 23, 2021
Top stuff from Dananjaya. Situational awareness. #INDvsSL2021
— Dhee-Raj? (@dheeruutweets) July 23, 2021
Sri Lanka have beaten India by three wickets!
Avishka Fernando top scores with 76 as Sri Lanka claim 10 crucial ODI World Cup Super League points.#SLvIND pic.twitter.com/KnNtm8aUWy
— Wisden (@WisdenCricket) July 23, 2021
Despite five debutantes, Team India nearly pulled out the third odi. Result doesn't matter but the fighting spirit shown by boys does. So many positive from #INDvsSL
— R P Singh रुद्र प्रताप सिंह (@rpsingh) July 23, 2021
You can have an off day in batting. Or bowling. But not while fielding. Especially with the young legs – too many catches have gone down today. No excuses #INDvSL
— Vikrant Gupta (@vikrantgupta73) July 23, 2021
— Akshat (@Akshat_98) July 23, 2021
in an unusual turn of events, sri lanka are threatening to win from a strong position #SLvIND
— Gaurav Kalra (@gauravkalra75) July 23, 2021
Wakanda forever!
Two wickets in seven balls for this youngster ?
Follow #SLvIND LIVE ? https://t.co/7h1TUlZTzG pic.twitter.com/3hU7DaYshc
— ESPNcricinfo (@ESPNcricinfo) July 23, 2021
The last time Sri Lanka defeated India in SL in ODIs was on July 24, 2012 almost exactly 9 years ago. #SLvIND
— India Fantasy (@india_fantasy) July 23, 2021
Pandya hasn't turned up this year at all…..
— Yash ?? (@im_yash2307) July 23, 2021
https://twitter.com/ShashankSatyam0/status/1418598201121071108?s=19
Weird captaincy not to bowl Rahul Chahar.
— Saurabh Malhotra (@MalhotraSaurabh) July 23, 2021
Sri Lanka walking this. Kind of day when the captain looks around for options ….
— Harsha Bhogle (@bhogleharsha) July 23, 2021
Spirit of cricket. pic.twitter.com/Has0EogmqJ
— Rex Clementine (@RexClementine) July 23, 2021
Paying respect to a legend! Another reason to love and respect this guy @dasunshanaka1 #SLvIND pic.twitter.com/MX0abjfZ2B
— Tharindu Madusanka (@tharindump) July 23, 2021
Chetan with the new ball. Sanju behind the stumps. We’ve seen this before! ?
— Rajasthan Royals (@rajasthanroyals) July 23, 2021
I fear for Mickey Arthur if Sri Lanka don't win today.#INDvSL #SLvIND #SLvsIND
— CricBlog ✍ (@cric_blog) July 23, 2021
Three batsmen out in the 40's. Undid a lot of the hard work when it was their opportunity to make a big statement. Perhaps a bit of T20 instincts showing as well.
— Saurabh Malhotra (@MalhotraSaurabh) July 23, 2021
ODI batting average
Navdeep Saini 100
Virat Kohli 59— ???????? (@Kohliesque) July 23, 2021
Lots of pretty, very attractive forties. One of them had to become a matchwinning performance. It has kept Sri Lanka in the game
— Harsha Bhogle (@bhogleharsha) July 23, 2021
That should put an end to Manish Pandey, the international cricketer. He is just like Vinay Kumar/Ashok Dinda in bowling. Giant in domestic cricket, not good enough at international level.
— Anup R (@YNWA_AR) July 23, 2021
That might be the last we see of Manish Pandey in a India shirt. Never say never but I don't see a way back in for him with all the players around.
— Saurabh Malhotra (@MalhotraSaurabh) July 23, 2021
Ishan Kishan :
1st t20i : 56 runs
2nd t20i : 4 runs
3rd t20i : Rested Total : 601st odi : 59 runs
2nd odi : 1 run
3rd odi : Rested Total : 60— Siddharth (@breakingbadass) July 23, 2021
147/3 to 195/8 – All of us Indian fans right now, thinking about that RAIN BREAK! ⛈️?#SLvIND pic.twitter.com/s2bgg8igm4
— KolkataKnightRiders (@KKRiders) July 23, 2021
If India (147/3 in 23 overs) does not bat again, then Sri Lanka's target will be 189 in 23 overs!#INDvSL #SLvIND
— Mohandas Menon (@mohanstatsman) July 23, 2021
Wow Sanju Samsons list A stats are garbage
— AD (@cricadharsh) July 23, 2021
Waited for ages. Impact outside and yet the third umpire checked the rest only to troll Sri Lanka and Surya. Comedy of errors.
— Saurabh Malhotra (@MalhotraSaurabh) July 23, 2021
Sri Lanka celebrated when they saw the ball hitting the stumps, without looking at the impact.
Not the first time someone celebrated too early vs India.#SLvInd #SLvsIND #INDvSL pic.twitter.com/8E513quPFC
— CricBlog ✍ (@cric_blog) July 23, 2021
Good that BCCI can afford third umpires. #SLvIND
— Silly Point (@FarziCricketer) July 23, 2021
Sanju Samson making his ODI debut 2196 days since playing his maiden T20I – the longest gap by any player who featured in a T20I before doing so in an ODI.
Sachin Tendulkar has the highest difference other way around, making T20I debut 6192 days after his ODI debut.#SLvIND
— Deepu Narayanan (@deeputalks) July 23, 2021
5 Debutants for India in an ODI match other than inaugural match
Melbourne vs Aus 1980
T Srinivasan
K Azad
S Patil
R Binny
D DoshiColombo vs SL 2021
S Samson
N Rana
K Gowtham
R Chahar
C Sakariya#SLvIND— Vidhu Pal (@vidhu_pal) July 23, 2021
I am not sure Hardik Pandya can give the side ten overs and Gowtham isn't, on most days, a ten overs bowler either. So expect Nitish Rana to bowl a bit, maybe even Suryakumar Yadav.
— Harsha Bhogle (@bhogleharsha) July 23, 2021
Two batsmen dismissed in the 40s just as we were preparing to celebrate half-centuries ?#SLvIND pic.twitter.com/UAhodUNfq6
— Wisden India (@WisdenIndia) July 23, 2021
The last time an India men's ODI XI had five debutants: 1980 ?https://t.co/PLO9JH6zA5 #SLvIND pic.twitter.com/FSRP5DIgIG
— ESPNcricinfo (@ESPNcricinfo) July 23, 2021
Say Hello ?? to our 5 ODI debutants #TeamIndia #SLvIND
Congratulations boys ???? pic.twitter.com/ouKYrtrW8G
— BCCI (@BCCI) July 23, 2021
Look how respectfully they're standing ? #SLvIND #RahulDravid pic.twitter.com/H217IJQtB4
— Wasim Jaffer (@WasimJaffer14) July 22, 2021
India’s got so many backup players thanks to the development squads they maintain. Five debutants today. pic.twitter.com/Sh3JRAuo8B
— Rex Clementine (@RexClementine) July 23, 2021