Sri Lanka has set a target of 237 for the Indian side in the second of the five-match ODI series at Kandy on Thursday after the hosts were restricted to 236/8 in 50 overs. Earlier in the day, Virat Kohli had won the toss and chose to bowl first.
Sri Lanka made three changes to their side as Milinda Siriwardana made a comeback to the team after four months to replace Thisara Perera. Left-arm pacer Dushmantha Chameera replaced the left-arm wrist spinner Lakshan Sandakan, and Akila Dananjaya came in to replace Wanindu Hasaranga.
Sri Lanka started well with the bat, as Dickwella gave the hosts a quick start with a 24-ball 31 before he was caught by Shikhar Dhawan at mid-wicket off a slower ball from Jasprit Bumrah.
Hosts lost the first wicket in the 7th over of the innings. Mendis and Gunathilaka then added 39 runs for the second wicket before Chahal and Dhoni combined for latter’s 99th stumping to get rid of Gunathilaka. By virtue of the dismissal, Dhoni came par with Kumar Sangakkara on the all-time list of most number stumpings.
Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Jasprit Bumrah opened the bowling for India and did a good job to get rid of Dickwella after he decided to attack them early. Both bowlers assessed the pitch early and took the pace off the ball and did not let the openers open their arms.
Later in the innings, Hardik Pandya had to walk off the field due to injury while bowling. He had bowled 5.2 overs before a calf issue forced him out of the ground. Kedar Jadhav completed his quota of overs as he conceded 32 runs in 4.4 overs.
Sri Lanka lost their most talented batsman Kushal Mendis on 19. He was trapped in front by Yuzvender Chahal. He also wasted the Lankans only review available, as the third umpire decided to stick to the on-field umpires call. The hosts were restricted to 121/5 in the 28.3 overs before a 91-runs partnership between Siriwardane and Kapugedra steadied the ship for the Lankans.
Siriwardane scored a run a ball 58 to guide them towards safety. He lost his wicket in the 45th over to Bumarh. Not only this, his partner Chamara Kapugedera was castled by a brilliant yorker from the Gujarat lad.
https://twitter.com/cricvids1/status/900699758490144768
Siriwardane’s wicket triggered another collapse as from 212/6 in the 45th over, they were restricted to 236/8 in 50 overs. For India, Bumrah was the pick of the bowlers. He bagged four wickets in his quota of ten overs. Though, he was evenly supported by Chahal, who scalped two wickets, whereas, Patel and Hardik Pandya settled for just one wicket.