By Ranjika Perera at R. Premadasa Stadium

Photos by Pradeep Dambarage [caption id="attachment_150472" align="alignleft" width="455"] India Captain Shikhar Dhawan cuts a ball during his resilient 86 off 95, where he anchored the Indo reply until they passed the finish-line yesterday (18) at R. Premadasa. India won the first ODI by seven wickets with more than 13 overs remaining. Photo Pradeep Dambarage[/caption]

Once again it was a familiar ending for the Lankans at the hands of a second-string Indian side at the R. Premadasa Stadium here last (18) night. Despite a much-improved batting performance from the hosts, they were nowhere close to the standards required to compete with the Indians.

The Sri Lankan top-order were scrutinised after the England series, but they put together a much better performance yesterday. At the first drinks break, they were 82/1 with Avishka Fernando being the sole casualty when he lofted a ball straight to extra-cover after a promising start.

Bhanuka Rajapaksa, on his debut, went on his merry way with a big six off Yuzvendra Chahal to get off the mark. He stroked three more boundaries, a six, and two fours, and looked relatively at ease on the crease before an outrageous shot saw him skying one off Kuldeep Yadav.

Yadav took two wickets in the 17th over putting Sri Lanka in a spot of bother (89/3), a familiar situation for them nowadays. With two new batters at the crease, Dhananjaya de Silva and Charith Asalanka, India tightened the screws with their spin triplets; Yadav, Chahal, and Krunal Pandya.

It ultimately brought the visitors the big scalp of de Silva, who tried to go inside out on Pandya and managed only to find Bhuveneshwar Kumar on the boundary. In dire need of consolidation, Skipper Dasun Shanaka and Asalanka were cautious against the spinners. The dot balls crept up as the runs dried down, which saw Sri Lanka at 141/4 in 32 overs.

After a drinks break, both Asalanka and Shanaka showed some urgency and intent with the running between the wickets, something they should have done from the start. It came to a halt when Asalanka was caught behind off Deepak Chahar. His innings of 38 was a controlled one but it took 65 balls.

However, it would boost his confidence after a disappointing debut series in England. Shanaka, joined by Wanindu Hasaranga, showed intent straight away when Chahal was hit for a boundary and six by the two in the 39th over. However, Hasaranga’s knock was short-lived when he went for one shot too many against Chahar, who took his second scalp for the match.

It was all set up for an onslaught for Shanaka and Chamika Karunaratne who started off well with a few boundaries and steady rotation of strike. But all hopes of a flourish at the end were diminished when Shanaka lost his wicket to Chahal, trying to lift it over Hardik Pandya at long-on.

Sri Lanka were looking at a modest total of around 220-230 but surprisingly, the tides changed with the ninth wicket partnership scoring 40 off just 19 deliveries to propel Sri Lanka to 262/9. Dushmantha Chameera slammed a four and a six off Pandya in the penultimate over while Karunaratne finished off with 4, 2, 6, 6, in the last over against Kumar.

India’s reply

[caption id="attachment_150473" align="alignleft" width="298"] New Sri Lanka Skipper Dasun Shanaka during his knock of 39. Sri Lanka fell short of runs on the board to challenge strong Indian batting line-up. Photo Pradeep Dambarage[/caption]

India got off to a menacing start thanks pocket-rocket Prithvi Shaw. His 43 off 22 balls had nine boundaries which saw the most experienced bowler in the team, Isuru Udana taken off the attack after just two overs.

Chameera too took a hammering but in his third over, after getting hit for back-to-back boundaries, he fired a bouncer which took a piece of Shaw’s helmet. The opener rattled by the hit, gifted away his wicket to Dhananjaya de Silva in the next over. Sri Lanka breathed a sigh of relief but only until Ishan Kishan walked in and hammered a six and a four off his first two deliveries in ODI cricket!

Kishan, who turned 23 yesterday, played fearlessly for his 59 which came in just 42 deliveries. He got a life when Chameera missed an easy chance at the deep, off Asalanka’s bowling. But it did not by any means took away the youngsters’ dominance while he was at the crease.

Sandakan dismissed Kishan to break the 85-run stand for the second wicket and in the very next over umpire Kumar Dharmsena adjudged Dhawan LBW, only for the decision to overturned following a successful review by the Indians.

With that, Sri Lanka lost all hopes of a possible fight-back as the Indo Skipper played an ideal Captain’s knock seeing off the chase with 80 balls to spare and seven wickets in hand.

SCORECARD

Sri Lanka

Avishka Fernando c Pandey b Chahal 33

Minod Bhanuka (wk) c Shaw b Yadav 27

Bhanuka Rajapaksha c Dhawan b Yadav 24

Dhananjaya de Silva c Kumar b K. Pandya 14

Charith Asalanka c Kishan b Chahar 38

Dasun Shanaka (Capt.) c H. Pandya b Chahal 39

Wanindu Hasaranga c Dhawan b Chahar 8

Chamika Karunaratne not out 43

Isuru Udana c Chahar b H. Pandya 8

Dushmantha Chameera run out (Kumar) 13

Extras (lb 21, w 12, nb 1) 15

Total (for 9 wickets in 50 overs) 262

Did Not Bat: Lakshan Sandakan

Fall of wickets: 1-49 (Fernando), 2-85 (Rajapaksa), 3-89 (Bhanuka), 4-117 (de Silva), 5-166 (Asalanka), 6-186 (Hasaranga), 7-205 (Shanaka), 8-222 (Udana), 9-262 (Chameera)

Bowling: Bhuveneshwar Kumar 9-0-63-0 (wd 4), Deepak Chahar 7-1-35-2 (wd 2), Hardik Pandya 5-0-36-1 (nb 1), Yuzvendra Chahal 10-0-52-2 (wd 3), Kuldeep Yadav 9-1-48-2 (wd 1), Krunal Pandya 10-1-26-1 (wd 1)

India

Prithvi Shaw c Fernando b de Silva 43

Shikhar Dhawan (Capt.) not out 86

Ishan Kishan (wk) c Minod b Sandakan 59

Manish Pandey c Shanaka b de Silva 26

Suryakumar Yadav not out 31

Extras (lb 5, wd 12, nb 1) 18

Total (for 3 wickets in 36.4overs ) 263

Did not bat: Hardik Pandya, Krunal Pandya, Deepak Chahar, Bhuveneshwar Kumar, Yuzvendra Chahal, Kuldeep Yadav

Fall of wickets: 1-58 (Shaw), 2-143 (Kishan), 3-215 (Pandey)

Bowling: Dushmantha Chameera 7-0-42-0 (wd 5) Isuru Udana 2-0-27-0 (wd 3) Dhananjaya De Silva 5-0-49-2 Charith Asalanka 3-0-26-0 (wd 1) Lakshan Sandakan 8.4-0-53-1 (wd 3) Wanindu Hasaranga 9-1-45-0 (nb 1) Chamika Karunaratne 2-0-16-0

Venue: R. Premadasa Stadium, Colombo

Toss: Sri Lanka

Result: India won by 7 wickets (80 balls to spare)

ODI No.: 4,307

Player of the Match: Prithvi Shaw (India)

ODI Debuts: Bhanuka Rajapaksa, Ishan Kishan, and Suryakumar Yadav

Umpires: Kumar Dharmasena and Raveendra Wimalasiri

Match Referee: Ranjan Madugalle

Series: India lead three-match series 1-0

Next Match: Tuesday (20) from 3 p.m.