When facing excellent spin bowling from Sri Lanka, captain Rohit Sharma played on a different “track” than his teammates, who were totally exposed.
In a low-scoring but exciting first ODI in Colombo on Friday, Sri Lanka managed to scrape out a draw against India thanks to the captain Rohit Sharma’s distinct ‘track’ of play from that of his teammates, who were severely exposed against superb spin bowling. As the team attempted to chase 231, captain Rohit struck 58 off 47 balls on a rank turner with inconsistent bounce, leading his team to 71 in 10 overs. However, all other batsmen failed to appear at ease against an army of Sri Lankan spinners, as captain Charith Asalanka claimed wickets off consecutive deliveries to contribute to the 44th tie in ODI cricket history.
It looked like Sri Lanka’s problems would not end when Shivam Dube (25) smashed those two sixes and a boundary past the extra cover to equalize the scores, but Asalanka made the effort to at least secure a win for the home team.
While Rohit looked flawless during his devastating half-century, the Indian middle-order faltered miserably, demonstrating their incompetence against slow spinners.
Following a generally impressive display by the Indian bowling team, which restricted Sri Lanka to 230 for 8, Rohit’s 58 gave India a devastating start. After that, things took a turn for the worse as Sri Lanka’s string of spinners, including captain Charith Asalanka (3/30 in 8.5 overs), Wanindu Hasaranga (3/58 in 10 overs), Akila Dananjaya (/140 in 10 overs), and Dunith Wellalage (2/39 in 8 overs), not only choked the run flow but also made breakthroughs when needed.
KL Rahul (31 off 43 balls) seemed to once again play his natural waiting game, which has consistently shown to be damaging to his team’s cause, on a field where Rohit made batting look absurdly easy. Furthermore, by the time he dismissed his wicket, he was unable to guarantee a clear victory.
Axar Patel (33), Shreyas Iyer (24) and Virat Kohli (23), all received starts but were unable to capitalize.
But when compared to every other hitter on both teams, Rohit appeared to be playing on a separate track. Asitha Fernando bowled the opening ball of India’s innings, and he responded with an 88-meter six over cow corner. He then greeted new bowler Mohamed Shiraz with a couple of boundaries and a slap over deep mid-wicket for a six.
The Lankan bowlers were handled with contempt by Rohit, while Shubman Gill (16) battled at the other end.
Upon being declared leg-before trying a slog sweep off Dananjaya, the pitch, which appeared to be simple to bat on, began to exhibit its unpredictable nature.
The ball began to rotate a little bit more, and the inconsistent bounce added to the uncertainty. While Washington Sundar (5) got one that Dananjaya threw in at an angle, Kohli grabbed a skidder and was far ahead of the game. Iyer looked good in his few innings until Fernando’s in-cutter got past his defense.
Earlier, the hosts had a battling score thanks to wise fifties from Pathum Nissanka and Dunith Wellalage.
Wellalage (67 not out, 65b, 7×4, 2×6) showed confidence and Nissanka (56, 75b, 9×4) shown focus on a surface that gave considerable spin after Lanka captain Charith Asalanka chose to bat first.
After Mohammed Siraj dismissed Avishka Fernando, Sri Lanka’s innings got off to a rocky start, but the hosts produced a mini-recovery thanks to 39 runs contributed by Nissanka and Kusal Mendis (14), who added a solid second wicket.
Similar to what had transpired in the last T20I series, the Islanders had a tendency to waste their wickets beyond that point.
This is not meant to diminish the outstanding effort made by the Indian bowlers, who caused the Lankan hitters to mishit many times.
Shivam Dube, who was playing one-day cricket for the first time in five years, defeated Mendis leg-before-head.
In the 27th over, the Lankan innings collapsed to 101 for five, from a comparatively comfortable 46 for two.
After his early difficulties against Kuldeep, Wellalage was very remarkable. The young player’s ability was demonstrated by his crisp back-foot punch through the covers for four off Washington, as well as a couple additional ramps and scoops.
The left-hander reached his first ODI fifty in 59 balls and helped his team surpass the 200-run threshold, which had seemed unattainable, after adding another 46 with Akila Dhananjaya for the eighth wicket.
