Sri Lanka Vs India: Twitter Reacts after Hapless Hosts Crawl To 236
Aug 24, 2017 at 9:18 PM
Somewhat repeating the similar Dambulla story at Pallekele International Cricket Stadium in Kandy were asked to bat first and the hosts posted 236 for eight on board in 50 allotted overs.
The chief architect for India with the ball was Jasprit Bumrah, who bagged four wickets in his quota of 10 overs after giving away 43 runs.
On the other side, Leg-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal claimed two wickets in his quota of 10 overs which further saw left-arm orthodox Axar Patel picking a solitary wicket after giving away 30 runs in his 10.
At one stage, Upul Tharanga-led Sri Lanka was struggling at 121 for five in 28.3 overs, before Chamara Kapugedera and the 31-year-old Milinda Siriwardana shifted the gear to see Lanka crossing past 200-run mark while rotating the strike and finding the odd boundaries.
For the sixth wicket, Siriwardana and Kapugedera forged a vital 91-run stand to give something to their bowlers to defend.
Banking on the youngsters, Sri Lanka has failed to impress during the ongoing series, however left-handed batsman Milinda Siriwardana struck his third half-century in his 19th ODI, in a bid to help the hosts to reach the modest total alongside the right-handed Kupugedera, who was clean bowled on a beauty on 40 off 61 deliveries by Bumrah
Siriwardana was caught by Rohit Sharma after scoring run-a-ball 58, as his innings included two boundaries and a six.
Once again the visitors’ bowlers shone early on and were eventually on the roll to make things miserable for the Lions batsmen, who further looked to be in doldrums throughout the ongoing tour except for few individual performances.
However, medium fast-bowler Hardik Pandya, who walked off-the-field, in a bid to receive the treatment when he struggled during his sixth over on his follow-through after complaining about the calf issue in his left leg.
Moreover, after stretching out beyond the padded-up boundary line, the all-rounder Pandya returned to the field in 35th over of Lankan innings which further saw him returning to the pavilion in 46th over after some words with team Physio Patrick Farhart.
In the eighth over, at the score of 41, the Lankans lost opening batsman Niroshan Dickwella, who was a soft dismissal, as Shikhar Dhawan completed a simple catch at midwicket on the bowling of Jasprit Bumrah.
Pandya was able to bowl 5.2 overs as he conceded 24 runs to claim the wicket of opposition skipper Hardik Pandya.
There is a saying that ‘luck favors the brave’ and it has been proved yet again by Indian skipper Virat Kohli, who went on to win his fifth consecutive toss during the ongoing bilateral series against Sri Lanka.
(Read Also: Five Popular Under-19 Captains Of India)
However, one of the social media users further wanted Kohli to continue with the winning streak and repeat the same against South Africa and England owing to the toss which further saw the social media criticizing the hosts batting line-up.
Interestingly, adding to the statistics, Mahendra Singh Dhoni claimed his 99th stumping in One-day Internationals when he found left-handed opening batsman Danushka Gunathilaka well short of his crease after fumbling in his first attempt.
Dhoni has also equaled the record of 99 stumping with former Sri Lankan gloveman Kumar Sangakkara, in the 50-over format.
One of the eagle-eyed Twitter users further has taken the subtle dig at the commentators when the live telecast was focusing on Drone footage of the stadium.
This is how the Twitterati reacted after the completion of Sri Lankan innings:
https://twitter.com/84107010ghwj/status/900744487609262080
Most stumpings in ODIs:
99 @KumarSanga2 / @msdhoni #INDvSL— Akhil Gupta 🏏 (@Guptastats92) August 24, 2017
Virat Kohli is on a roll with the toss. Keep a few of those for South Africa and England too.#SLvIND #SLvsInd
— Suneer (@suneerchowdhary) August 24, 2017
Captain @imVkohli wins the toss and elects to bowl first #SLvIND pic.twitter.com/2q4Dov6s05
— BCCI (@BCCI) August 24, 2017
The new white ball has stopped swinging…or have the bowlers stopped trying? #SLvIND
— Aakash Chopra (@cricketaakash) August 24, 2017
MS Dhoni – 99 ODI stumpings mostly off the bowling of
19 – Harbhajan Singh
15 – Ravindra Jadeja
14 – R Ashwin
and 19 other bowlers!#SLvInd— Mohandas Menon (@mohanstatsman) August 24, 2017
99th stumping for the quickest pair of hands in the business… #Dhoni #SLvInd
— Chetan Narula (@chetannarula) August 24, 2017
Looks like phir dhoni ki batting dekhne ko nahi milegi😥 Don't know what is going with srilankan batsmen.. 😮#SLvsIND
— Pragati (@pragati712) August 24, 2017
One of many troubles #SLvsInd
— Muhammad Qasim Iftik (@Qasimifti) August 24, 2017
https://twitter.com/GNitishKRVKHLI/status/900678411445719040
Cameraman and commentators are obsessed with Drone, every now and then 🤦🏻♀️#SLvIND #IndvSL #SLvsInd
— mon (@4sacinom) August 24, 2017
Spin keeps Sri Lanka in check #SLvsInd
— Muhammad Qasim (@Qasimiftikh) August 24, 2017
Wow awesome match #Slvsind #BCCI #IndvsSL #Cricket2017Live#IndianCricketTeam pic.twitter.com/4BdYeDYm8Q
— Pragnya Prasad (@pragnyaprasad) August 24, 2017
Tight bowling, no room being given, fielders backing the bowlers and Sri Lanka batsmen eventually digging their own graves.#SLvsIND
— Karan Dewan (@karan13dewan) August 24, 2017
Iam confident about axar patel he will in playing XI for 2019 world cup. #IndvsSL #Slvsind
— Ram Reddy (@ramreddy485) August 24, 2017
Another good start but could not sustain for long #Slvsind
— Kekin Gangar (@iamkekin) August 24, 2017