JOIN USClinical India cruise to victory
Crowd trouble delayed India’s series victory by more than 30 minutes as play was held up after the irate mob rained water bottles down the ground from either side of the grass beds of the Pallekele International Cricket Stadium.
Elite police forces had to remove thousands of spectators from one of the two embankment areas and the ground staff had to fetch hundreds of bottles from the ground here on Sunday before players came back to complete the formalities. India were 210 for four in 44 overs with eight runs required for win while chasing Sri Lanka’s total of 217 for nine when play was stopped. With this six-wicket win, India, who replied with 218/4 in 45.1 overs, took an unassailable 3-0 lead in the five-ODI series.
Before the crowd trouble, Rohit Sharma hammered his 12th career hundred to bat India out of a spot. Akila Dananjaya (2/38) threatened an encore of Sunday but an assured Rohit (122 n.o., 143b, 16x4, 2x6) and an unruffled MS Dhoni (61 n.o., 81b, 4x4, 1x6) calmed the nerves in the Indian camp after they had lost four wickets for 61 by playing some ill-advised shots.
Shikhar Dhawan endured a rare failure as he played on Lasith Malinga in the third over of the chase while Virat Kohli flicked Vishwa Fernando straight to backward square-leg for Dushmantha Chamara to complete a neat catch. KL Rahul had a golden opportunity to set things right but the young batsman’s pull off Dananjaya found the fielder at deep mid-wicket. Kedar Jadhav, who led India’s mediocre fielding display on the day, attempted a wild sweep off Dananjaya, completely oblivious to the situation and was plumb in front.
Rohit, however, remained firm without actually abandoning his attacking instincts. The right-hander took calculated risks and once he got the situation under control, he punished all comers. He was brutal and yet beautiful. With Dhoni giving him a sense of security from the other end, the Mumbaikar punished Lanka. No praise can be too high for Dhoni who soaked up all the pressure in his customary fashion and negated the threat of Dananjaya as he stitched a 149-run stand for the unbroken fifth wicket.
Opting to bat first, Sri Lanka sacrificed flamboyance for the sake of solidity but still ended up scoring just one run more than they had managed in the first ODI. Lahiru Thirimanne (80, 105b, 5x4, 1x6) justified his recall to the national side in place of the banned skipper Upul Tharanga with a measured half-century but on either side of his innings there was nothing much to write about the hosts’ batting.
Jasprit Bumrah (5/27), man of the match, led another excellent show by the Indian bowlers on a pitch where there were runs to be taken if one were to put his head down and bat. Lankan batsmen, however, once again came up with a lacklustre show that wasn’t enough for their bowlers put the deep Indian batting line-up under sustained pressure.
Bumrah was India’s stand-out performer again with the ball. He neither allowed Lanka a good start nor could they go for the jugular towards the end despite having enough wickets in the bank. In his first spell (5-2-9-2), Bumrah was not only miserly but also dismissed an in-form but a perpetually impetuous Niroshan Dickwella and one-drop Kusal Mendis cheaply. In his second spell (5-0-18-3) too he didn’t concede much and gobbled up the important wickets of a set Thirimanne, Milinda Siriwardana (29 off 27) and Dananjaya.