Sri Lankan cricket team led by Charith Asalanka completely outsmarted Team India across all three aspects of the game in the second ODI in Colombo. The hosts benefitted from Jeffrey Vandersay’s bowling spell as he returned with career-best figures of 6-33.
The 34-year-old played a pivotal role in triggering a dramatic Indian batting collapse, that helped his team secure a 32-run victory in Sunday’s encounter. Vandersay came in as a late replacement for the injured spinner Wanindu Hasaranga who had been ruled out of the series due to left hamstring.
The hosts took a 1-0 lead in the three match series and on the other hand, the visitors have a lot of things to sort out. The Indian bowlers were far from being impressive as they let the Sri Lankan lower order batting unit to dictate terms and accumulate decent totals in the end of the game.
More importantly, India’s middle order batters struggle to produce a spark against the spinners in the first and the 2nd ODI despite Rohit Sharma’s quick fifties in the first two games. The first game ended in a tie whereas the second game ended in Sri Lanka’s favor, with one more game to go.
The third and final ODI between Sri Lanka and Team India will kick off at the same venue on August 7, Wednesday. It will be quite interesting to see how the visitors will respond after a disappointing defeat in the second ODI. India’s think tank could make some key changes in the playing 11 in the next game.
1. Rishabh Pant in for KL Rahul
KL Rahul was preferred ahead of Rishabh Pant in the first and second ODI. However, he failed to deliver the goods as a proper middle order wicket keeper batsman. The right-hander didn’t bring the best out of him in both games. He had a chance to guide the team to a win in the first ODI.
He ended up scoring 31 runs including two fours before he fell prey to Charith Asalanka’s delivery. Coming to second ODI, he was dismissed for a second ball duck as he fell prey to Vandersay’s bowling. As a result, India’s think-tank could bring Rishabh Pant in place of KL Rahul in the third and final ODI.
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