In the ODI three-game series, Sri Lanka managed to pull one game on India. They pursued 227 runs pretty comfortably and Avishka Fernando’s cool knocking ensured that they always remained ahead of the hunt. Indian bowlers were fighting hard to the finish, but they had been given their first loss of the tour almost too early. Sri Lanka beat India by 3 wickets.
India vs Sri Lanka 3rd ODI Highlights: Sri Lanka win by 3 wickets
A fresh look before, Despite granting debuts to five players, India decided to bat first. But Prithvi Shaw and Shikhar Dhawan’s set of openings remain the very same. The visitors were not going to start at a time when their captain pulled just to the keeper on 13. Sanju Samson then moved ahead in his initial efforts in format with complete confidence.
He and Shaw played superbly for the second wicket to sustain the pace and produced 74 runs. The latter ultimately struggled with his problems with the spinners and went up to 49. But he was caught up right in front of Dasun Shanaka in an attempt to sweep the ball to his side and get to his 50. Samson, too, appeared comfortable on the other end, much like he’s seen his entire career.
Suryakumar continued to improve his batting with another strong performance
Even him, though, was unable to reach the 50-run line. Samson was removed for 46 runs by Praveen Jayawickrama, and the score was 118/3. Suryakumar Yadav continued to improve his batting with another strong performance. Manish Pandey was supposed to be the captain of the team, but Praveen confused him with a brilliant ball. Manish’s ODI series just finished with 74 runs in 3 innings, raising serious doubts about his prospects.
Surya got 40 on the other hand, but he couldn’t even get going and reach a major score. There had been a rain delay in the middle, which Sri Lanka took advantage of. The visitors were dismissed to 195/8 from 157/3 in 8 overs after collapsing against spinner Akila Dananjaya as well as other bowlers.
Only Rahul Chahar and Navdeep Saini were responsible for India’s 225-run total, as they batted intelligently for approximately 10 overs, rotating the attack. India were finally bowled out, and as a result of the collapse, they were unable to bat out the whole 47-over mark. The DLS procedure was used to set the goal for the hosts to 227.
The 227-run goal was modest, but given Sri Lanka’s recent string of losses, they were clearly under pressure. However, the nerves quickly dissipated when Avishka Fernando batted well. With no swings for the new ball bowlers, India used to spin in the fifth over itself, and the decision paid off quickly.
The Lower order took care of the rest towards the victory
Sri Lanka beat India by 3 wickets. Minod Bhanuka was sent back after Krishnappa Gowtham knocked in his first over. Avishka and Bhanuka both made it to their half-centuries. However, the latter was bowled out for 65 runs in 56 balls, giving Chetan Sakariya his first international wicket. The youngster then snagged Dhananjaya de Silva with a brilliant delivery to keep things exciting.
With 30 more runs to win, Lankans seemed to be very focused. The squad, on the other hand, did not break from its decent position this time. Fernando produced tough 76-run innings, but he was dismissed with the team needing only 13 runs, and the lower order took care of the rest to help them win by 4- wickets.
Here are few Twitter reactions on Sri Lanka’s win:
Congratulations Team India on the series win. Away wins always special🇮🇳😊 Set batsmen not making it big cost us today. That’s where they can learn from @ImRo45 and @imVkohli. Dropped catches, 25+ extras hurt too. Congrats on today’s win @OfficialSLC 👏🏻 They needed this. #SLvIND
— Wasim Jaffer (@WasimJaffer14) July 23, 2021
Great performances by young Lankans @OfficialSLC there’s so many positives we can take out from this series and we found some good talents, Hope everything happened for the reason. Congratulations boys, finally y’all make it, great stuff, really happy about y’all, 🇱🇰🇱🇰👏👏👏👏👏 pic.twitter.com/qauOQJy8Pd
— Dhammika Prasad (@imDhammika) July 23, 2021
Finally a win for Sri Lanka. Oh for some imagination in that 2nd ODI by the Sri Lankans! It could have been the series. But still plenty of positives to carry forward for them. Congratulations to @dasunshanaka1 and the lads.
— Roshan Abeysinghe (@RoshanCricket) July 23, 2021
A win .. A win … A win for SL #SlvInd Well done on hanging in there and getting over the line .. Relief indeed .. but a win would bring belief and more to work with than when the series began.
— Russel Arnold (@RusselArnold69) July 23, 2021
Despite five debutantes, Team India nearly pulled out the third odi. Result doesn’t matter but the fighting spirit shown by boys does. So many positive from #INDvsSL
— R P Singh रुद्र प्रताप सिंह (@rpsingh) July 23, 2021
You can have an off day in batting. Or bowling. But not while fielding. Especially with the young legs – too many catches have gone down today. No excuses #INDvSL
— Vikrant Gupta (@vikrantgupta73) July 23, 2021
lndia play more than 11 players in all their International cricket matches, always. If you know, you know. 👎💰 #NotCricket
— Daniel Alexander (@daniel86cricket) July 23, 2021
Also because he is now a Royal but that is secondary.
— Abhishek Mukherjee (@SachinAzharCT) (@ovshake42) July 23, 2021
Is Hardik Pandya a worry? Or, not yet? #INDvSL
— Vikrant Gupta (@vikrantgupta73) July 23, 2021
Chetan ➡️ Variation 💗pic.twitter.com/6kVLvejKTZ
— Rajasthan Royals (@rajasthanroyals) July 23, 2021
Also Read: 5 Most Selfish Knocks In Cricketing History
