Quick guide:
India v Sri Lanka – 2nd ODI
India defeated Sri Lanka in a thriller in R. Premadasa Stadium, Colombo, and sealed the three-match ODI series with a game to spare on Tuesday (June 20). After going 1 up in the series the Indian team was expected to come hard in an attempt to clinch the series in the second ODI while Sri Lanka was expected to put up a better show from the first one-dayer and level the series.
Read: Young Indian team humbles the Sri Lankan team
Match Summary
Opting to bat first again after winning the toss, Sri Lankans got off to another good start but the fall of quick wickets in the middle overs meant they were struggling again to reach a fighting total on a good surface. The fifties from opener Avishka Fernando (50 off 71) and middle-order batsman Charith Asalanka (65 off 68) set the tone for the home side to post a fighting total in the first innings.
Their efforts with the bat were matched by another late flourish from Chamika Fernando guide home team to 275/9 at the end of 50 overs. Bhuvneshwar Kumar (3 for 54), Deepak Chahar (2 for 53) and Yuzvendra Chahal (3 for 50) was the pick of bowlers for India. They picked up eight wickets amongst them while one batter was dismissed run-out by Ishan Kishan’s game awareness.
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Chasing a challenging total on a turning wicket, India certainly didn’t get off to a great start as they lost the player of the match from the 1st ODI- Prithvi Shaw for 13 (11) and started losing wickets at regular intervals. From thereon India struggled to find partnerships. Suryakumar Yadav slammed his maiden fifty in ODI cricket (53 off 44) and alongside Manish Pandey steadied India after falling of quick wickets in the chase.
Manish got out in an unfortunate manner while Surya carried on. It was all set for Hardik Pandya’s finish but he got out to Sri Lanka’s captain Dasun Shanaka without troubling the scorers, his elder brother Krunal played well for his 35 after getting a life early in his innings. Lakshan Sandakan turned the game once again for his team when he trapped half-centurion Suryakumar in front of the wicket.
When it looked like India’s run chase is going nowhere then came the Indian tail-enders to the rescue. Deepak Chahar brought India back from the dead with a steely 69 off 82 balls to finish things off in MS Dhoni way. Chahar and Bhuvneshwar Kumar (19 not out off 28) forged an unbeaten 84-run stand to seal a memorable win.
Leg-spinner Wanindu Hasaranga (3 for 37) troubled the Indians with his variations and ended up being the stand-out bowler for his team. One may also think that Shanaka could’ve given more overs to Chamika who tested Krunal with the short pitch stuff and was looking threatening for the major part of the second innings. Sri Lanka may have missed a trick there. For a good part of the game, they looked more in favor for a win! Lots of lessons for them to take from this game.
Battling against the odds India’s lower order showed great heart to snatch an unlikely victory for the visitors. When it went down do the last over the pressure was still on Chahar to close the game off as games have slipped away in the past in crunch situations. Maintaining his composure, Chahar fittingly hit the winning runs for his team. One cannot help but think that this knock would be something his CSK skipper and master finisher MS Dhoni would be happy seeing.
Watch : India vs Sri Lanka 2nd ODI highlights
Key Take-aways
- It is not easy to perform in a situation where opponents seem to have an upper hand for a win but what helps is preparing for such scenarios in the game mentally and holding your nerve. Visualization technique helps along with teammate’s support during the game to stay focused and perform to your best.
- Visualizing yourself performing your best, playing good shots in difficult situation and helping the team win helps in preparing yourself to perform those shots and not lose your focus despite the external pressure in the crucial moments of the game.
- It is a process. One cannot achieve big things or play big knocks out of the blue. There is a lot of training, experience from previous wins/losses, belief from the coaches and teammates that contributes to someone giving their best on the given day along with their mental preparation for the game and self-practice.
~ Vaibhav Tripathi (Guest Author), Urvi Shah (Author, Beyond the Matches)
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