Young Guys Showed A Lot Of Maturity, Both With Bat And Ball: Dasun Shanaka

Sri Lanka skipper Dasun Shanaka finally tasted success as captain, overcoming India in the final ODI in Colombo by seven wickets. Sri Lanka delivered a disciplined bowling performance, followed by an almost complete batting show with the bat to capture an invaluable ten points in the World Cup Super League. Dasun Shanaka, who could not contribute with the bat, but did with the ball, hailed his team for delivering a match-winning display.

India, who affected five changes by handing five debuts, won the toss and elected to bat first. The tourists made a fiery start even though they kept losing wickets. Prithvi Shaw and Sanju Samson, one of the five debutants, were the star performers in the first half of their innings as India’s innings halted at 147-3 in 23 overs due to rain.

However, with the match reduced to 47 overs, Sri Lanka came firing back and dashed India’s hopes of reaching above 300. The hosts’ spinners Praveen Jayawickrama and Akila Dananjaya shared six wickets between them in 20 overs, leaving the middle-order clueless. Only Suryakumar Yadav played fluently after the break; however, he departed for 40. The tailenders dragged India towards 225.

Avishka Fernando and Minod Bhanuka began the chase well, sharing 35-run stand in 5.3 overs. Off-spinner Krishnappa Gowtham got Bhanuka’s wicket in his first over as fellow debutant Chetan Sakariya took an excellent low catch. Fernando Bhanuka Rajapaksa motored along well, putting on 109 in no time as the run-chase seemed a cakewalk. Nevertheless, Sakariya struck to dismiss two more batters. Hardik Pandya Rahul Chahar combined to take the next four wickets, reducing them to seven down to give the hosts a scare. However, Sri Lanka held their nerves and got home.

It’s a big win for fans, they were waiting for years for this win: Dasun Shanaka

Dasun Shanaka congratulated India for their series win and praised the quality of cricket. The 29-year old applauded his inexperienced side for showing maturity across departments as anticipated by him. Shanaka stated that the victory had been a long time coming for the hosts against India in Sri Lanka as they had not accomplished since several years.

“Congratulation to India for the series win. It was a very good series throughout. Young guys showed a lot of maturity, both with bat and ball and that’s what I expect from them. It’s a big win for fans, they were waiting for years for this win; we have won against India at home after quite some time,” Dasun Shanaka told in the post-match presentation.

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