New Delhi: Spinner Jeffrey Vandersay spun Sri Lanka into a 32-run win over India in their second ODI of a three-match series in Colombo on Sunday.
The home team now have taken a 1-0 lead in the series after the first game was tied on Friday.
After Sri Lanka won the toss and posted 240/9 after electing to bat, Vandersay took 6/33 to bowl out India for 208 in 42.2 overs.
Skipper Rohit Sharma (64 off 44 balls, 5×4, 4×6) was India’s top scorer, whose dismissal by Vandersay triggered India’s slide.
When Sharma was at the crease, it looked like he was batting on a different pitch compared to the other Indian batters.
But once Pathum Nissanka dived to catch Sharma’s looped reverse sweep, it exposed the vulnersbility of the rest of the batters.
Sharma departed when India were 97/1 in the 14th over and then slumped to 116/3 in the 18th over with Shubman Gill (35) and Shivam Dube (0) departing in quick succession.
After that it was all doom and gloom as India tumbled to 147/6 in 24th over with Virat Kohli (14), Shreays Iyer (7) and KL Rahul (0) all going back cheaply with Vandersay claiming all the first six wickets.
Replacing the injured Wanindu Hasaranga, Vanderay had a dream evening, leaving the Indians confused a how to tackle him.
Washington, Kuldeep shine
The Indian spinners were also impressive when Sri Lanka batted in the afternoon after winning the toss.
Against Washington Sundar (3/30) and Kuldeep Yadav (2/33), the home team’s batters struggled but came up with a late order dash to put up 240 for nine.
A 72-run partnership for the seventh wicket between Dunith Wellalage (39) and Kamindu Mendis (40) helped them crawl out from a tricky 136 for six after Avishka Fernando (40) and Kusal Mendis (30) produced a fluent 74 for the second wicket stand.
Brief scores:
Sri Lanka: 240/9 in 50 overs (Avishka Fernando 40, Kamindu Mendis 40; Washington Sundar 3/30) India: 208 all out in 42.2 overs (Rohit Sharma 64, Axar Patel 44; Jeffrey Vandersay 6/33).
Leg-spinner Jeffrey Vandersay (6/33) helped Sri Lanka beat India by 32 runs in the second ODI on Sunday. Cricket Sports News: Latest Cricket News, Cricket Live Score, Sports Breaking News from Sports Today
