Bhuvi hits maiden fifty, as India stun Sri Lanka in 2nd ODI

The world got to view one of the best ODI matches of this year as Sri Lanka almost snatched victory from what was looking like a likely defeat.

Alarmed by the Sri Lankan cricket team’s rapid decline in recent times, the government is setting up a crisis panel to address the concerns plaguing the former world champions. Dananjaya bowled very well. To say “too many cooks” is probably accurate. The danger, though, was imminent as here was bowler against whom the top-order batsmen had no clue – whether he was bowling leg-breaks, googlies, off-breaks or sliders – India’s batting was in a confused state.

But the wiley Dhoni provided a masterclass in composure under pressure, picking his shots and keeping the runs trickling through as Bhuvneshwar rotated the strike well before picking up the pace for a first ODI fifty.

“I had a plan against him”.

All eyes were on new batsmen Lokesh Rahul, Kedar Jadhav and Virat Kohli, but the trio failed to rise to the expectations and were dismissed by Dananjaya in the same over at scores of 1., 4 and 4 respectively.

Young Akila Dananjaya almost disturbed the established order and won the game for the hosts.

In addition to Tharanga, interim coach Nic Pothas was also present in the press conference on Wednesday to issue a statement.

Around 50 fans of the Sri Lankan cricket team gathered near the team bus to protest against their team’s lack of fight during their crushing loss to India.

India lead the 5 match series 2-0. But Dhoni was a man on a mission and there were two things he needed to ensure.

They continued their poor performance even in the limited-overs cricket. Bhuvneshwar remained unbeaten on 53, while remained not out on 45.

“It was a bit surprising for me because we had a great opening start and all of a sudden, we collapsed”. Then 3-4 wickets fell quickly so it was a bit of a panic situation for us. The target was revised to 231 in 47 overs. If you look at the past results we have been in good positions in the first 20-25 overs. “I just wanted to support as much I could to MS”, he added. The witness to all this massacre was MS Dhoni, who stood at one end watching players come and go.

“Thanks to Sanjay Bangar, he has been working really hard with me”. “Once wickets come along, we also gain confidence”. On the positive side, I’m very, very happy for him (Dhananjaya).

“The wedding was in the afternoon on Tuesday, and when I got back to the team hotel it was around 11.30 in the night”, Dhananjaya said of his big day.