India v/s Sri Lanka, 2nd ODI

Thirimanne put on a gritty 72-run stand with Test captain Dinesh Chandimal, who made a sedate 36, but the rest of the batting let the hosts down.

The third ODI between India and Sri Lanka will be played at Pallekele International Cricket Stadium in Pallekele.

It is also the highest eighth-wicket partnership in a successful chase in ODIs.

India too suffered from major blows early on after losing their top-order batsmen including Shikhar Dhawan and Virat Kohli quite early in the game.

Apart from Thirimanne and Chandimal, no other batsman applied themselves sensibly and thus were dismissed on sloppy shots. The chance was converted into a wicket by Rohit Sharma’s stunning effort at second slip. The ball was travelling hard after taking an edge off Kusal Menids’ bat. Rohit was outstanding, MS was great as well.

WICKET! What drama out there. Experiments over? From the Indian point of view there were two big takeaways. With a staggering 124 in 145 balls and 67 in 86 balls, both the players saved the destiny of this second ODI against Sri Lanka. Last game he missed out on a five-for, but he got it this time. “He attacked the stumps”, Kohli said.

A maiden five-wicket haul by India’s Jasprit Bumrah has restricted Sri Lanka to 9-217 in the third one-day global in Pallekele on Sunday.

Chamara Kapugedara, who is leading the Sri Lankan side in place of Upul Tharanga, and Virat Kohli seemed to have their respective wish granted.

Chasing 231 from 47 overs after a rain intervention, India were cruising at 109 for no loss but the 23-year-old Dananjaya claimed three wickets in one over to turn the match on its head.

Bumrah was the pick of the bowlers with four wickets, while Chahal took two, and Pandya and Axar Patel chipped in with one wicket apiece.

The 3rd ODI between India and Sri Lanka will be broadcast Live on Sony Pictures Networks. Interestingly it was Kumar who faced eight of the 12 balls bowled by Dananjaya in his seventh and eighth over.

Asanka Gurusinha, Sri Lanka’s cricket manager and a selector, said the selectors wanted to stick with Kapugedera, as he was already serving as Tharanga’s deputy in the series.