Series defeat looms large as Vandarsay spins web around India to hand Gambhir first defeat as coach

Humbled! After holding India to a tie in the first ODI, the hosts have beaten the star-studded Men in Blue team by 36 runs. Rohit Sharma’s team are so used to winning that this loss to a team that won just two matches at the 2023 ODI World Cup would sting. Gautam Gambhir, who’d started his tenure as India’s head coach with a 3-0 record, has also tasted defeat. With no way to win the India vs Sri Lanka series now, it’ll be fascinating to see how the reigning T20 World Cup champions respond.

Wellalage frustrates India once again

Winning the toss once again, Charith Asalanka decided to bat first once again. However, the decision didn’t work so well. Sri Lanka lost their in-form opener, Pathum Nissanka, first ball as Mohammed Siraj managed to nick him off. Things steadied for a while as Avishka Fernando and Kusal Mendis stitched a 74-run stand. Then came Washington Sundar, who sent the two set batters back. 

Sadeera Samarawickrama and Asalanka made sure they didn’t collapse and slowly got things back on track. Unfortunately, that didn’t last long as Samarawickrama fell victim to Axar Patel’s smart bowling. Janith Liyange never looked certain, and his scratchy knock of 12 (29) ended a few overs later. Asalanka was sent packing in the very next over, and Sri Lanka looked in real trouble.

Dunith Wellalage, who was the reason for the first match ending in a tie, frustrated India once again. His counterattacking saw the momentum shift, and with Kamindu Mendis, he took the Lions from 136/6 to 240/9. Although not enough, the total gave Sri Lanka a fighting chance, much like in the last game.

Vandersay gets Sri Lanka the win

Rohit Sharma took a couple of overs to set himself in, hit Wellalage for three fours in the 4th over, and then went ballistic. Shubman Gill decided to play the second fiddle, letting Rohit do the smashing and looking to rotate the strike. The Indian captain treated the spinners and pacers with the same disdain, and by the end of the powerplay, India were 76/0. Soon he hit his second consecutive fifty, crossed his former head coach Rahul Dravid’s ODI run tally, and became the 10th highest run-getter of all time.

A cakewalk: That’s what everyone started to expect. But Jeffrey Vandersay had other plans. He got Rohit, and India needed just 144 runs in 36.3 overs. The total should have been easily chased down. But that didn’t happen. The leggie sent Gill and Shivam Dube back in the 17th over, and the game was on.

Vandersay didn’t stop and ran through the middle-order, sending Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, and KL Rahul back to the hut. The Indians couldn’t fathom what was happening. But there was still hope. Washington Sundar and Axar Patel were still in the middle, two batters who have pedigree against the spinners. 

Axar took them on and from 147/6 took India past 180. He handled Sri Lanka’s main spinners well but fell to part-timer Asalanka. Washington didn’t last long either, and once again, it was the Sri Lankan captain who got the breakthrough. With Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Siraj, and Arshdeep Singh left, there wasn’t hope.