Joel Wilson (West Indies), Ruchira Palliyaguruge (Sri Lanka), Paul Reiffel (Australia, TV)
Referee
Ranjan Madugalle (Sri Lanka)
Toss
Sri Lanka elected to bat
Pitch Report
I feel the wicket is very dry again. Where I am sitting, there are a lot of cracks and their edges are quite weak. It means that as the game progresses, the wicket will get drier and spinners will get a lot of help. We are going to see spinners dominate again.
VENUE STATS
1st Innings
240Avg Runs
8Avg Wkts
84.15Avg
SR
2nd Innings
202Avg Runs
7Avg Wkts
81.53Avg
SR
Weather Update
Weather Update
Colombo,Sri Lanka
Updated: 07 Aug 20:00
27.4°CClouds
scattered clouds
100%
Clouds
0%
Rain %
80%
Humidity
6.6 kmph
Wind
Playing XILineups Out
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I feel the wicket is very dry again. Where I am sitting, there are a lot of cracks and their edges are quite weak. It means that as the game progresses, the wicket will get drier and spinners will get a lot of help. We are going to see spinners dominate again.
The commentary is not available for this match. Please check the scorecard for latest updates.
That is all we have for you from India's white-ball tour of Sri Lanka this time. The T20 World Champions lived up to that tag with a 3-0 drubbing over the Lankans in the shortest format, but the hosts bounced back in the ODI leg, and how! The last month or so has been fairytale-like for the Sri Lankan cricket fraternity - a maiden Women's Asia Cup title, and now an ODI series win for the men's side against the top-ranked team in the format. Hope you enjoyed our coverage of the same - as always, your love and support drives us towards new heights! We'll be back with more cricketing action over the week - in the meantime, you can follow our coverage of the first Test between the West Indies and South Africa.by clicking here. This is Rajarshi Das, signing off on behalf of Pradeep Somasekhar for now. See you later!
Sri Lanka and fascinating cricketing stories go hand-in-hand. They keep finding ways of triumphing in a big way - right when they are least expected to. It has been the case since their inception into international cricket. Their biggest cricketing achievement - the 1996 World Cup title - came on the back of an inspirational brand of cricket that proved to be too good for several giants of the game at the time. Sanath Jayasuriya, who was adjudged Player Of The 1996 World Cup for what turned out to be a truly revolutionary exhibition of batting throughout the tournament, is back - as a Head Coach of an immensely promising, young Sri Lankan side. And he has delivered. In quite a big way at that.
The ghosts of 2023 will be laid to rest for now as this Sri Lankan side, brimming with talent and plenty of promise for the future, poses with the trophy for pictures. They will take a lap of honour across the R. Premadasa stadium as well - of course they will. The Sri Lankan crowd sure have been extra vocal in the recent past - particularly after the re-admission of fans into cricket stadiums post COVID. They played a part in some of Sri Lanka's best moments in the last two years, and the case was no different this time.
Charith Asalanka (Sri Lanka captain): I'm a happy captain right now, the team did all the things right throughout the series. We all knew that they have a strong line up, we wanted to back our strength - spin bowling. We did that. (On turning wickets) The batters struggled a bit, but if you want to win a series, you need to do things like that. They are in a really good mood right now, specially the coach, he's an active guy all the time. He made a few changes, new environment in our team, and we are enjoying it a lot.
Rohit Sharma (India captain): Don't think it's a concern, something that we need to look at seriously with individual game plans, something we were put under pressure throughout the series. When you are playing for India, there's no place for complacency, it's not going to be the case when I'm captaining the side, you come out and try to give your best. But, we were outplayed, like I said in the previous game as well, you got to give credit where it's due and Sri Lanka outplayed us. We looked at the conditions, taking the pace of the ball was ideal combination, we went with that. Lot of players waiting in the wing, they hadn't gotten the opportunity, all in all, we didn't play good cricket and hence the result. Throughout the series, there were few positives, how spinners bowled, some of the batters as well in the middle. We lost the series, even though if you look at the positives, I feel there are plenty of areas to look at, something that we will think about, turn up better in such conditions. You will lose on odd series here and there, what's important is how you bounce back.
Dunith Wellalage is the Player of the Series! Here's what he has to say: First of all, I want to thank my skipper, teammate, coaching staff, received great support and I deliveired. Before the game, we got accustomed to the wicket, with the turn and bounce on offer, we did well. The wicket was same today, we did less mistakes and hence we were able to do well. Avishka and Kusal Mendis batted well and set up the tone. Everyone's supporting each other, very excited to play the game.
Avishka Fernando is the Player of the Match! Here's what he has to say: Very happy about the innings, surface was tough and the batters did the job by putting up partnerships. Sad about missing on the hundred.
Maheesh Theekshana: We came back to ODI's, new pressure on us, we were disappointed in the T20s but the motivation and really happy about the team. Series win after 1997 is some feeling. We knew that, they played on good wickets and small boundaries. With turn and bounce at Premadasa, our spinners made the most of it, happy about the victory. Thanks to support staffs, players and it's a confidence booster. For us when we were batting first, we thought it would turn, but it was a much batting track. Rohit when he came in, attacked me and they got a good start. Asitha started off by getting Gill out. Vandersay did a splendid job, Hasaranga in the first game. Akila was economical in the first two games. Great team work, all players have contributed, 2-0 is a happy result.
Match summary:
Sri Lanka win by 110 runs and seal the three-match ODI series 2-0
India's woes against spin bowling on a turning track were well and truly on show - again. Unlike the previous game, the fight on show was very little, mainly due to the fact that the likes of Rohit Sharma and Axar Patel weren't able to get going today. The Indian middle-order was no match for the Sri Lankan spin attack - Maheesh Theekshana, Dunith Wellalage and Jeffrey Vandersay later on ran right through the Indian line-up.
Rohit Sharma, as he has done so often in the last few years, tried starting off with a bang. There was the odd delivery that misbehaved early on, but Rohit played his shots, throwing Maheesh Theekshana off his lengths early in the powerplay. Shubman Gill looked to play himself in, but a sudden rush of blood got to him - he tried charging down and having a swish across the line against Asitha Fernando, the ball stayed low and crashed onto the sticks behind him.
Virat Kohli walked in, was a bit tentative, but found the boundary on three occasions in his first nine deliveries. Rohit Sharma's innings was cut short right after, though - having seen off Wellalage's opening over, Rohit tried to sweep against the spin, produced a thick edge and was pouched well by Mendis behind. Rishabh Pant came and went - he skipped down the wicket against Theekshana, prodded at thin air and was stumped by a quarter of the pitch.
Wellalage proceeded to run right through the Indian middle order - there was the odd boundary in between, but Wellalage proved to be too good for Axar Patel and Shreyas Iyer in his fifth over. Riyan Parag and Shivam Dube followed soon after - both of them began decently, but fell in contrasting fashion to Jeffrey Vandersay - Dube ran down the wicket, had a swing across the line and was struck low on the pad, and Parag shouldered arms to a straight one and saw the ball crash onto the stumps.
The Indian tail wagged for a while, mainly thanks to Washington Sundar. The left-hander showed more application and guts than most of his colleagues - he picked his deliveries to go after, middled the ball on numerous occasions, but he had way too much to do. Sundar fell trying to go downtown off Maheesh Theekshana, and the hosts sealed the deal once Wellalage came back and trapped Kuldeep in front, claiming his fifth of the day.
There it is! An ODI series win for Sri Lanka against India - first in TWENTY-SEVEN years - sealed at the R. Premadasa stadium! Sanath Jayasuriya beams in delight - what a start this is to his coaching stint! The Matara Mauler was among the thick of things the last time Sri Lanka claimed a series win over India, playing an integral role in it, in fact - the Island Nation sure had the edge over India in ODI cricket overall back then, particularly in the multinational ODI tournaments. Having suffered comprehensive losses against the 2023 Men's ODI World Cup finalists in the Asia Cup final first, and then the 2023 World Cup, this sure is a massive moment of redemption for this young, promising Lankan side!
26.1 Dunith Wellalage to Kuldeep Yadav, OUT! LOUD SHOUTS FOR LBW, FINGER GOES UP FINALLY! Sri Lanka seal the series, 2-0, the long wait for a series win against India ends here at R Premadasa! What a moment! Wilson took a long time to raise his finger as Wellalage went down on his haunches, pleading and then gets his FIFER in the end. Length delivery on middle and off, Kuldeep misses the sweep across the line, pings on the back thigh. No reviews left and that is that for India!
Kuldeep Yadav LBW b Dunith Wellalage 6 (30b, 0x4, 0x6)
Dunith Wellalage (5-0-27-4) has been brought back
Mohammed Siraj, RHB, is the last man in
Washington falls! That might just be the game for India - Washington Sundar sure showed a lot of promise, and was just starting to pose a threat for the hosts. He tried to go downtown again, didn't middle it at all, and in spite of a fumble, Vandersay clings on to a pressure catch!
26
overs
138/9score
0
1
0
0
0
w
runs
Washington Sundar*
30(25)
Kuldeep Yadav
6(29)
Maheesh Theekshana
2/45
25.6 Maheesh Theekshana to Washington Sundar, OUT! HOLES OUT AT LONG-OFF! Juggling act but Vandersay pouches it safely of the second attempt. Brilliant rearguard action comes to an end from Sundar, just one wicket away now from a famous series win for the hosts. Floated a length delivery on the stumps, Sundar looks to launch it out of the ground but skied it. Vandersay comes running forward and clings on to it.
Washington Sundar c Jeffrey Vandersay b Maheesh Theekshana 30 (25b, 2x4, 3x6)
25.5 Maheesh Theekshana to Washington Sundar, BIG SHOUTS FOR CAUGHT BEHIND, NOT GIVEN! Sri Lanka think there was some noise, Asalanka walks towards the bowler and doesn't take the review. Short and turned sharply away wide of off-stump. Sundar had to stretch in the end and misses.
25.4 Maheesh Theekshana to Washington Sundar, OH MY! Had he connected that one, would've been out of the ground. Floated a length delivery on the stumps, Sundar with a slog sweep but misses as it turned and bounced, goes over the top of the stumps.
25.3 Maheesh Theekshana to Washington Sundar, OH! Angled the length delivery on the stumps, Sundar looks to defend but skews off the outside edge to short third.
25.2 Maheesh Theekshana to Kuldeep Yadav, good length on the leg-stump, Kuldeep leans and flicked it down to fine-leg for a single.
25.1 Maheesh Theekshana to Kuldeep Yadav, flighted the length delivery on the leg-stump, Kuldeep right behind it and keeps it out.
Video
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Washington Sundar
*
Maheesh Theekshana
R.Premadasa Stadium, Khettarama, Colombo
