1st ODI: Wellalage, Asalanka & Hasaranga star as India-SL series opener ends in a dramatic tie

Colombo: Dunith Wellalage chipped with an all-round performance – 67 not out and 2-39, while captain Charith Asalanka and Wanindu Hasaranga took three wickets each to ensure the first ODI between India and Sri Lanka ended in a tie at the R. Premadasa Stadium on Friday.

On a pitch that aided spinners, Sri Lanka were in trouble at 101/5, and it seemed they would suffer another batting collapse. But Wellalage stepped up to hit seven fours and two sixes in his 67 not out off 65 balls, where he mixed smartness with solid cricketing shots.

He also shared three crucial partnerships of 41, 36 and 46 with Janith Liyanage, Wanindu Hasaranga and Akila Dananjaya respectively to give Sri Lanka a fighting total of 230/8. In reply, India had a flying start, thanks to Rohit Sharma’s blazing 58.

But after he fell, Sri Lanka’s spinners – Hasaranga, Wellalage and Akila Dananjaya- found their way to come back in the match. KL Rahul and Axar Patel kept them at bay, but once the duo fell in quick succession, Sri Lanka once again clawed their way back, thanks to Hasaranga and Asalanka to ensure back-to-back matches in the series ended in a tie.

It made for absorbing and thrilling entertainment for fans at the stadium, as Sri Lanka felt joyful at the end, while India looked shell-shocked. Chasing 231, Rohit made his attacking intentions clear by dancing down the pitch and swinging Asitha Fernando for a six over deep mid-wicket, followed by edging him wide of slip for four. From the other end, Shubman Gill was at his best in driving off the fast bowlers to pick a brace of boundaries.

Rohit took down debutant Mohamed Shiraz by driving on the up, pulling and flicking comfortably to take 15 runs in the fourth over. He went on to cut Wellalage twice for fours, before punching off Fernando and sweeping plus slog-sweeping off Dananjaya to reach his fifty in 33 balls.

But Sri Lanka struck twice in quick succession – Gill succumbed to the dot-ball pressure after his slog-sweep gave a top-edge to short cover off Wellalage, while Rohit missed a sweep off the left-arm spinner and was trapped plumb lbw. Washington Sundar’s promotion to number four didn’t work as he was trapped lbw while lunging forward to defend against Dananjaya.

Shreyas Iyer was quick to get four boundaries off-spinners, with his reverse sweep off Wellalage being the standout shot. Virat Kohli got going with back-to-back boundaries off Wellalage but was trapped lbw by a skiddy delivery from Hasaranga while going to play him off the back foot.

An over later, Fernando struck by castling Shreyas through the gate with a nip-backer hitting the top of the off-stump. Axar began by hammering Hasaranga over mid-off for four, followed by him and Rahul resorting to good-old strike-rotation. Luck was also on their side as Rahul was dropped by Asalanka off Dananjaya’s bowling.

Axar broke the boundary drought by beautifully lofting inside-out off Asalanka for four, followed by Rahul nailing his pull and sweep off Hasaranga for a brace of boundaries. The 57-run partnership ended when Rahul hit straight to mid-wicket off Hasaranga, with the equation reading 42 runs to win for India.

In the next over, Asalanka got a length ball to spin away sharply, which Axar tried to chase and give a faint outside edge to Kusal Mendis. Though Shivam Dube danced down the pitch to loft Dananjaya for six, Hasaranga got Sri Lanka back again by castling Kuldeep Yadav with a googly.

With Mohammed Siraj by his side, Dube muscled Hasaranga over long-on for six, before powering Asalanka through cover to take India closer to victory. With a run needed to win, Sri Lanka brought another twist as Hasaranga trapped Dube lbw, followed by the leg-spinner dismissing Arshdeep Singh in the same fashion for the match to end in a tie.

Earlier, half-centuries from Wellalage and Pathum Nissanka ensured Sri Lanka got a competitive total on a slow and dry pitch. Siraj got India the first breakthrough when Avishka Fernando looked to flick, but miscued, and the leading edge was caught by the third man. Nissanka carried on from where he left in T20Is – flicking and driving Arshdeep for boundaries, before cracking a cut off Siraj to collect another four.

After being dropped by Siraj in the eighth over, Nissanka rocked back to pull Axar for a boundary. But he began losing partners from the other end as Dube trapped Mendis lbw with a length ball which straightened in after pitching.

Mendis went for the review, but replays showed the ball hitting off and middle stump, giving Dube a maiden ODI wicket in his first game in the format since 2019. Sadeera Samawickrama never looked comfortable and chipped a drive straight to short cover off Axar, followed by a scratchy Charith Asalanka giving a simple catch to slip off Kuldeep.

Amidst the wobble, Nissanka brought up his fifty in 67 balls but was soon trapped lbw on 56 by Washington. Nissanka took a review, but replays showed the ball would’ve clipped leg stump, meaning the original decision stayed.

Wellalage and Liyanage hit five boundaries between themselves in a handy 41-run stand for the sixth wicket, before the latter went for a big hoick off a turning away delivery from Axar and saw his outside edge being caught by slip. Interestingly, the replays showed no outside edge, which implied that Liyanage wrongly walked off.

Hasaranga provided for some entertainment by walloping two sixes and a four in a knock of 24, before slicing straight to backward point off Arshdeep. Wellalage continued to be solid by glancing, punching and heaving to get his boundaries and reach his maiden ODI fifty in 59 balls.

Finding support through Dananjaya’s two boundaries, Wellalage ramped and pulled Siraj for four and six respectively in the 49th over, before moving leg-side to guide a yorker from Arshdeep in the gap between backward point and short third man for four more in the final over to take Sri Lanka to exactly 230.

Brief scores:

Sri Lanka 230/8 in 20 overs (Dunith Wellalage 67 not out, Pathum Nissanka 56; Axar Patel 2-33, Arshdeep Singh 2-46) tied with India 230 all out in 47.5 overs (Rohit Sharma 58, Axar Patel 33; Charith Asalanka 3-30, Wanindu Hasaranga 3-58)

–IANS