The tied result in the opening game of the three-match One Day International (ODI) series gave so much belief to Sri Lanka, who scripted a fantastic victory with 32 runs in the second game to go 1-0 up against the Blue Brigade. However, Virat Kohli’s DRS decision in one of the LBW reviews grew heat among the host camp, where their head coach, Sanath Jayasuriya, wasn’t satisfied with the decision.
Winning the toss the home side decided to bat on a slow surface where they posted 240/9 in their allotted 50 overs, thanks to the vital 72-run partnership for the seventh wicket between Kamindu Mendis and Dunith Wellalage.
India made a flying start thanks to the 97-run opening partnership between Rohit and Shubman Gill. The former took the aggressive route to nail the big and aggressive shots all around the park. But once they lost Gill at the team score of 116, the rest of the batting line-up fell without hardly any contribution from the middle order.
Watch: Virat Kohli chatting to Sri Lanka’s head coach on this topic
Virat Kohli struggled in the first game of the series, where he wasn’t able to read the ball from the spinners and was adjusted LBW while trying to punch the ball on the back foot.
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On the very second ball of the chase, the former Indian captain went back deep into the crease and pulled Jeffrey Vandersay through the midwicket region for a boundary. Akila Dhananjaya went short at him, to which the Delhi-born punched hard off the back foot to bet the long-on fielder to earn another boundary.
The very next ball was an off-break which pitched outside off and spun in to beat the inside edge of the batter, who looked to work into the legside off the back foot. The ball spun a long way, and given Virat Kohli was so deep in his crease only an edge would have saved him from the situation.
The umpire without any hesitation raised his finger. The veteran batter wasn’t sure whether to go for the review on that call. But after a little conversation with his batting partner, Virat went for the DRS. The third umpire was Joe Wilson. He took a lot of time to make the final decision.
After watching the delivery from a few angles, he checked for the ultra-edge, which showed a slight spike in the technique meant Kohli perhaps got a tiny little edge on the ball, which he wasn’t aware of. The decision was reversed, as the confident-looking Sri Lankan players couldn’t believe it. Captain Charith Asalanka had a slight interaction with the stand-in umpire as wicket-keeper Kushal Mendis threw his helmet into the ground.
Their head coach, Sanath Jayasuriya, didn’t look satisfied and came down from the dressing room to have a chat with the fourth umpire regarding the decision. The camera at the end found Virat Kohli with a smile on his face.
Four overs later, in between which the visiting side had already lost two more wickets, the 35-year-old was adjusted leg before the stumps on another occasion, this time against Vandersay. Kohli leaned forward to the flipper to defend but missed the delivery completely. The impact was in front of the middle stump and would have been crashed into the leg stump.
— The Game Changer (@TheGame_26) August 5, 2024
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Virat Kohli made his way into the dressing room for his score of 14 off 19 balls. He had a slight chat with Jayasuriya while the players were shaking their hands at the end of the game. The topic wasn’t confirmed as both made it look like a friendly chat by patting each other’s shoulders.
The visitors will have a quick turnaround to play the final game of the trip on August 07 at R. Premadasa Stadium in Colombo.