COLOMBO — It looked all serene for India to complete the chase of 231 against Sri Lanka, but captain Charith Asalanka and Wanindu Hasaranga took three wickets each to ensure the ODI series opener ended in a tie at the R. Premadasa Stadium on Friday.
India had a flying start, thanks to Rohit Sharma's blazing 58. But after he fell, Sri Lanka's spinners – Hasaranga, Akila Dananjaya and Dunith Wellalage – who made an unbeaten 67 in the first innings - found their way to come back in the match.
Though K.L. Rahul and Axar Patel kept them at bay, once the duo fell in quick succession, Sri Lanka once again clawed their way back, thanks to Hasaranga and Asalanka to ensure back-to-back matches in the series ended in a tie. It made for absorbing and thrilling entertainment for fans at the stadium, as Sri Lanka felt joyful, while India looked shell-shocked.
Chasing 231, Rohit made his attacking intentions clear by dancing down the pitch and swinging Asitha Fernando for a six over deep mid-wicket, followed by edging him wide of slip for four. From the other end, Shubman Gill was at his best in driving off the fast bowlers to pick a brace of boundaries.
Rohit took down debutant Mohamed Shiraz by driving on the up, pulling and flicking comfortably to take 15 runs in the fourth over. He went on to cut Wellalage twice for fours, before punching off Fernando and sweeping plus slog-sweeping off Dananjaya to reach his fifty in 33 balls.
But Sri Lanka struck twice in quick succession -– Gill succumbed to the dot-ball pressure after his slog-sweep gave a top-edge to short cover off Wellalage, while Rohit missed a sweep off the left-arm spinner and was trapped plumb lbw. Washington Sundar’s promotion to number four didn’t work as he was trapped lbw while lunging forward to defend against Dananjaya.
Shreyas Iyer was quick to get four boundaries off-spinners, with his reverse sweep off Wellalage being the standout shot. Virat Kohli got going with back-to-back boundaries off Wellalage but was trapped lbw by a skiddy delivery from Hasaranga while going to play him off the backfoot.
An over later, Fernando struck by castling Shreyas through the gate with a nip-backer hitting the top of the off-stump. Axar began by hammering Hasaranga over mid-off for four, followed by him and Rahul resorting to good-old strike-rotation. Luck was also on their side as Rahul was dropped by Asalanka off Dananjaya’s bowling.
Axar broke the boundary drought by beautifully lofting inside-out off Asalanka for four, followed by Rahul nailing his pull and sweep off Hasaranga for a brace of boundaries. The 57-run partnership ended when Rahul hit straight to mid-wicket off Hasaranga, with the equation reading 42 runs to win for India.
In the next over, Asalanka got a length ball to spin away sharply, which Axar tried to chase and give a faint outside edge to Kusal Mendis. Though Shivam Dube danced down the pitch to loft Dananjaya for six, Hasaranga got Sri Lanka back again by castling Kuldeep Yadav with a googly.
With Mohammed Siraj by his side, Dube muscled Hasaranga over long-on for six, before powering Asalanka through cover to take India closer to victory.
With a run needed to win, Sri Lanka brought another twist as Hasaranga trapped Dube lbw, followed by the leg-spinner dismissing Arshdeep Singh in the same fashion for the match to end in a tie.
Brief scores:
Sri Lanka 230/8 in 50 overs (Dunith Wellalage 67 not out, Pathum Nissanka 56; Axar Patel 2-33, Arshdeep Singh 2-46) tied with India 230 all out in 47.5 overs (Rohit Sharma 58, Axar Patel 33; Charith Asalanka 3-30, Wanindu Hasaranga 3-58)