Sri Lanka didn’t start well in the batting department during the first SL vs Ind game, as they kept on losing wickets at regular intervals, as the same story continued during the bowling when they were smashed around the park by the Indian opening batters. The second game of the series will give them a chance to make developments in these sections.
The batting of the Blue Brigade during the middle overs (11-40) wasn’t up to the mark, as they kept on struggling against the spin bowlers. The hardest job for the bowlers was to take singles, which increased the pressure of going for big shots to release the pressure. And that ultimately resulted in a wicket.
Since the beginning of the year 2023, going into the SL vs Ind second ODI of the series, the Sri Lankan team has shown their dominance in this particular phase of the game, having collected runs at a higher strike rate.
Their captain, Charith Asalanka, is one of the biggest reasons behind that flurry of runs, having smashed 1058 runs in 28 innings, at an average of 51.94 and a strike rate of 83.46, shouldering on 73 boundaries and 19 sixes, before the second SL vs Ind ODI game.
Whenever Pathum Nissanka has survived the first ten overs, he has used his power to nail the big shots as he cracked 845 runs in 25 innings at a strike rate of 93.16. Kushal Mendis, coming at number three too has done a very good job with 850 runs in 25 innings, at a strike rate of nearly 100, with six fifties.
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The Indian team, on the other hand, before the SL vs Ind ODI, displayed the same kind of dominance in the middle phase of the game, having fired up runs at an aggressive rate. Virat Kohli is the second-highest run-getter of the period, with 989 runs in 20 innings, at an average of 82.42 with a strike rate of over 92, besides celebrating 13 fifties in the session.
The opening batter, Shubman Gill, has been able to record the runs in the middle phase also, as he has registered 814 runs in 23 innings, at an average of 45.22 and a strike rate of 103.56, with seven fifties. Their middle order has dominated, thanks to how KL Rahul has batted.
The wicket-keeper batter has belted 812 runs in 22 innings, at an average of 81.20 and a strike rate of nearly 80, with five half-centuries, and a best score of 72 runs.
SL vs IND: Playing 11- 2nd ODI, India Tour of Sri Lanka 2024
The team looked quite balanced during the first ODI game, as the only question was whether they would go back to Rishabh Pant in the middle order.
India’s Playing 11:
Most of the Indian batters got their starts in the first game but failed to convert them into big scores. Captain Rohit Sharma notched up 58 runs in 47 balls at a strike rate of over 123, shouldering on seven boundaries and three sixes, but failed to make it a big hundred.
This was the same story with Virat Kohli and Shreyas Iyer in the first SL vs Ind ODI, both of whom were dismissed in their 20s. Shivam Dube and KL Rahul reached their respective 30s, but the latter looking to play a big shot was dismissed.
It will be very unlikely for them to make any change in the playing eleven.
India’s Probable XI: Rohit Sharma (c), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Rishabh Pant (wk.), Riyan Parag, Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Mohammad Siraj, Arshdeep Singh, Kuldeep Yadav.
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Sri Lanka’s Playing 11:
Pathum Nissanka batter quite well in the opening spot for his 56-run knock in 75 balls, with the help of nine boundaries at a strike rate of nearly 75. But the middle order couldn’t contribute to the scorecard.
Dunith Wellalage played a fantastic 67-run knock, coming in the seventh position, as he managed to take Sri Lanka to that 230-run total during the first SL vs Ind ODI.
Sri Lanka’s Probable XI: Pathum Nissanka, Avishka Fernando, Kushal Mendis (wk.), Sadeera Samarawickrama, Charith Asalanka (c), Wanindu Hasaranga, Dunith Wellalage, Maheesh Theekshana, Akila Dhananjaya, Asitha Fernando, Mohammad Shiraz/Chamika Karunaratne.
The second SL vs Ind ODI game will be played on August 04, at the R. Premadasa Stadium in Colombo.
