A sensational fact about world class teams is that it takes only one good game to make their contemporaries realize their original abilities. There might be a fade, caused due to unforeseen injuries and so called transition period, but, as mentioned just above, it takes just one good game to flux invigorating energy into the side.
India, the favorites by an overwhelming margin, who won the first ODI with all the ease after already pocketing a whitewash in Tests, today were made to taste the dirt like rookies. They somehow survived but the scare experienced was unnerving by all mean and logic.
The sorcery of just one 24-year-old (unconventional) spinner, Akila Dhanajaya, was enough to revive the fortunes in the series for Sri Lanka (although not entirely).
Coming into bowl in the 12th over, the spinner, known for bowling all types of spin variations, triggered a quick downfall which saw India slip fatally to 131/7 from being at a firm winning position of 109/0. More astonishingly, this cluster of seven wickets fell in just 7.2 overs.
Chasing the revised target of 231 from 47 overs, India quickly jetted off towards the target in a spectacular fashion akin to the first ODI as openers Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan batted freely, pushing aside the Lankan bowlers to the corner.
The duo added an admirable stand of 109 off just 15.3 overs. It was normal business as usual. India cruised the 50 run mark in just 7.3 overs and later completed the 100 mark by the 15th over with Sharma completing his half century and Dhawan inching towards the same.
However, India were made to face a catastrophic blow shortly – exactly three balls later to be precise – beginning with the end of the booming stand between the opener.
Dhananjaya, who had already bowled two “wicketless overs, unboxed his magic as he drew the first blood with the wicket of Sharma whom he trapped lbw. In the following over, Siriwardana snapped Dhawan to send the warning signals.
The 18th over saw India losing three wickets all of a sudden as Kedar Jadhav, Virat Kohli, and Kl Rahul, the three most important men in the order, were made to walk back to the pavilion in the space of 5 deliveries.
The young spinner added more salt to the wound and brought India to the brink of a slowing situation after he pocketed Hardik Pandya and Axar Patel in his following over to snap up a six-for in no time.
In a nutshell, the scenes at Pallekelle reminded of Ajanta Mendis who executed a pretty much similar downfall back in 2008 during the Asia Cup finals. The Indian team was perplexed just like they were at that time.
However, soon there was a twist which Sri Lanka would rue for some time in future.
Bhuvneshwar Kumar and MS Dhoni prepared themselves to survive the unforeseen disaster and forged an unbeaten 100 runs stand for the 8th wicket, a record highest on the Sri Lankan soil to drag India past the winning line and deny a celebratory night for the hosts.
The match just slipped away as both Bhuvneshwar and Dhoni, backed by loads of lucky runs, huffed and puffed towards the target before eventually nailing it.
After the match, Harsh Goenka, MS Dhoni’s old friend, tweeted this:
https://twitter.com/hvgoenka/status/900782581808996352