Sri Lankan Captain Angelo Mathews chose to bowl after he won the toss, as the pitch was presupposed to be full of runs. Mathews’ game plan was to bring down Indian batsmen by three slow bowlers of their side before afternoon.
He assumed that the pitch would be little slower in the second half and registered three spinners, chose Ajantha Mendis in the expense of fast bowler Suranga Lakmal.
On the other hand Virat Kohli wanted a strong start by his openers as he wanted to reduce the pressure on newly arranged middle order. The Indian bowlers are out of favor for a long time and that is why pressure was put on batsmen shoulders to set a big score.
But opener Rohit Sharma has failed to bear with the pressure. He got lbw by Sachithra Senanayake and could score only 13 runs. Whereas Shikhar Dhawan did a good job, he scored 94 at 114 balls. Batsman Kohli came down the crease at number three position and did a splendid 48 runs innings at 51 balls. Other batsmen are failed to register themselves to score a high run. As a result Indian team finished their innings by setting a target of 265 runs at the expense of 9 wickets.
Sri Lankan bowlers had a good day with the ball. Mathews’ decision to choose Mendis was has proven right. Mendis took four wickets and gave 60 runs while Sachithra Senanayake got three wickets by giving 41 runs.
Now its time to watch what Indian Bowlers can do in this slow pitch!
