After losing 10 consecutive ODIs against India at home, Sri Lanka finally managed to pull one back. Chasing a DLS-adjusted target of 227 in 47 overs at the R Premadasa Stadium in Colombo, opener Avishka Fernando anchored the innings with a well-composed 76. That helped Sri Lanka to cross the winning line with 3 wickets and 8 overs in hand, in the final game of three-match series. However, India still won the series 2-1.
Sri Lanka held the upper hand for most of their innings, despite losing Minod Bhanuka (7) to K Gowtham – one of five Indian debutants – early in the innings. The 109-run second-wicket stand between Fernando and Bhanuka Rajapaksa steadied the ship and kept the well on course. While Fernando held one end, Rajapaksa raced to a 56-ball 65.
Chetan Sakariya, another debutant, who came to the rescue for India. He sent Rajapaksa back, then got Dhananjaya de Silva (7) with a bouncer to reduce the Lankans to 151/3 in the 25th over.
India got more wickets to keep the excitement alive. Hardik Pandya trapped Charith Asalanka plumb in front for 24. This was followed by a brilliant spell of leg-spin by debutant Rahul Chahar, picked ahead of Yuzvendra Chahal in this match.
Chahar got his first international wicket by dismissing Sri Lankan captain Dasun Shanaka first ball. He also got Fernando and Chamika Karunaratne, making Sri Lanka toil hard. However, Ramesh Mendis and Akila Dananjaya held their nerves to saw the team through to a much-awaited victory.
Earlier in the day, Shikhar Dhawan won the toss for a change and opted to bat. In this dead-rubber match, India chose to experiment and made six changes – including five debutants – in the playing XI.
But they failed to get off to a strong start. Dhawan (13) fell to Dushmantha Chameera in the third over. His opening partner Prithvi Shaw (49) and debutant Sanju Samson (46) tried to pull things back with a 74-run second-wicket partnership. But they fell in a span of 17 balls as Sri Lanka reduced India to 118/3 in 18.4 overs.
Manish Pandey (11) and Hardik Pandya (19) soon perished against as left-arm spinner Praveen Jayawickrama. Suryakumar Yadav looked classy during his 37-ball 40, but could not steer India to a defendable total. The other debutants, Gowtham (2) and Nitish Rana (7), failed to impress.
For Sri Lanka, the spin duo of Dananjaya and Jayawickrama, shared 6-103 in 20 overs. It was primarily because of their efforts Sri Lanka bowled India out to a below-par 225 in 43.1 overs on a pretty decent batting surface.
India also looked sloppy on the field. They dropped as many as five catches in the evening. With the focus now shifting towards the three-match T20I series, starting July 25, they would like to rectify their mistakes.
Brief scores: India 225 in 43.1 overs (Prithvi Shaw 49; Akila Dananjaya 3-44) lost to Sri Lanka 227/7 in 39 overs (Avishka Fernando 76; Rahul Chahar 3-54) by 3 wickets with 48 balls to spare. Player of the match: Avishka Fernando.
India won the series 2-1. Player of the series: Suryakumar Yadav.