Sri Lanka’s horrible streak of form in this year’s ODI cricket continued in the series opener against India. The young Indian team mercilessly chased the total and further lowered the morale of the hosts.
Dasun Shanaka and company. will expect a change of luck in the second ODI on Tuesday.
The R Premadasa Stadium in Colombo will host the second game of the series today. The home team will have to win this match to stay alive in the three-game series.
Avishka Fernando and Rajapaksa showed promise in the previous game, as they made some wonderful shots before they hit the ground.
The Sri Lanka team management hopes that the batsmen will take more responsibility and support the bowling department in today’s game.
It's time for match day number two!
🏏 – 2nd ODI #SLvIND
🕒 – 03:00 PM (IST)
🏟️ – RPICS, Colombo
📺 – Siyatha TV, Sony Six, Sony Ten, Ten Cricket (Dialog Tv, Peo TV)
💻 – SLC YouTube Channel pic.twitter.com/mIaUML1hFo— Sri Lanka Cricket 🇱🇰 (@OfficialSLC) July 20, 2021
The last bilateral ODI series win against India came in 1997
The Sinhalese Sports Club field in Colombo was the site of the last series-winning match of Sri Lanka against India in cricket for more than 50 years.
It was the third game of the three-game series during the 1997 Sri Lanka Indian tour. The home team had already won the first two games and held an unassailable 2-0 lead prior to this match.
Indian skipper Sachin Tendulkar won the draw and chose to line up first. Abey Kuruvilla (4/43) gave India a great start by ruling out two starters Sanath Jayasuriya (3) and Marvan Atapattu (3) cheaply.
Roshan Mahanama (50) stabilized innings by joining an 83-run partnership with Aravinda de Silva for the third wicket.
Nilesh Kulkarni (3/71) fired Mahanama and Arjuna Ranatunga in quick succession to restore India’s control over the proceedings.
But Aravinda de Silva (104) had a great century and led his team to a decent total with the help of Lanka de Silva (50) and other lower-ranked hitters. In the end, the hosts got it all for 264 with two balls to spare in the innings.
In response, Sachin Tendulkar (39 on 32 balls) gave India a brilliant start. But Sajeewa de Silva (2/48) slipped away to slow India’s early progress and split the starting pair after they managed 50 runs for the first wicket.
Soon Silva also fired Sourav Ganguly (17) to put his team ahead in the contest. Ajay Jadeja (22), Robin Singh (28), Rahul Dravid (42), and Mohammad Azharuddin (65) did their best, but none of them were able to continue to the end to end the chase.
In the end, India was able to collect just 255/8 in 50 overs and missed the target for nine races. Sri Lanka eliminated India by winning the series 3-0.
