NEW DELHI: Ravichandran Ashwin struck to give India first breakthrough as he dismissed Tillakaratne Dilshan in the second ODI of the five-match series at Mahinda Rajapaksa International Cricket Stadium in Hambantota. Chasing a paltry 139-run target, Upul Tharanga and Tillakaratne Dilshan added 119 runs stand for the opening wicket to ensure Sri Lanka’s victory. Dilshan scored a quick-fire fifty in 47 balls, hammering five fours.
Sri Lanka got off to a good chase as Tharanga and Dilshan took Sri Lanka to 64/0 in 9 overs at the time of innings break.
Earlier, Thisara Perera and Angelo Mathews took three wickets apiece to help Sri Lanka bowl out India for 138 runs in just 33.3 overs.
Sri Lanka made a remarkable come back after losing the first match as their bowlers fired in unison to restrict India to modest total in the day-night one-dayer.
Gautam Gambhir was the lone Indian batsman, who stood firm while the wickets kept falling on the other hand. Gambhir scored a patient half century and held the one end in India’s collapse.
Lasith Malinga gave India sixth blow in the form of Irfan Pathan and dented visitors’ hope of recovering after the bizarre collapse in the match.
Skipper MS Dhoni also failed to take India to recovery after losing four wickets inside 8 overs. Angelo Mathews struck again to take his second wicket as he dismissed Dhoni to reduce India to 60/5 in 14.1 overs.
India suddenly lost the momentum after Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir gave visitors a blistering start, adding 31 runs in 3.6 overs. Sri Lanka’s Thisara Perera was on a roll as he claimed three quick wickets to rock Indian top-order.
The man-in-form Virat Kohli, who scored three successive hundreds against the hosts, could not continue his dream run as he was sent back by Perera for one.
Rohit Sharma missed out on another opportunity when Angelo Mathews clean bowled the batsman to add India’s worry. In the next over India suffered another blow when Perera scalped Suresh Raina to leave India tottering at 41/4 in 7.4 overs.
Perera took a brilliant diving catch on his follow-through to dismiss Sehwag in the fourth over. Sehwag smashed 2 fours in his run-a-ball 15 before falling to Perera.
The dismissal came after Indian captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni won the toss and chose to bat.
India are unchanged from the last match and Sri Lanka have brought in Isuru Udana in place of the injured Nuwan Kulasekara.
India cruised to a 21-run win against the islanders in the opening ODI — courtesy the in-form Virat Kohli who smashed 106 and senior batsman Virender Sehwag who made a significant contribution with an innings of 96. (Source Times of India)
