Opening ODI ends in a nail-biting tie after Asalanka and Wellalage’s brilliance

(Colombo) - The first ODI in the 3-match series ended in a dramatic tie on Friday at the R. Premadasa Stadium in Colombo, as India could only manage to equal Sri Lanka’s first innings score of 230. 

Charith Asalanka bowled a delightful spell, snapping up Shivam Dube and Arshdeep Singh in back-to-back deliveries when India needed just one run from 14 balls.

After winning the toss, Sri Lanka skipper Charith Asalanka decided to bat first in his opening game as captain of the Sri Lankan team.

Sri Lanka, having suffered batting collapses in the T20 matches, faced another scare when they lost half their side in the 27th over after in-form Pathum Nissanka departed for 56. Mohammed Siraj struck first, dismissing Avishka Fernando for one, and the top and middle order soon faltered, including skipper Asalanka, who was out for 14.

However, 21-year-old Dunith Wellalage, a left-arm spinner, came in at number seven to hit an unbeaten 67 after Sri Lanka slipped to 101-5. Wellalage's efforts helped Sri Lanka post 230/8 against India. For India, Axar Patel and Arshdeep Singh took two wickets each.

Sri Lanka handed an international debut to pace bowler Mohamed Shiraz after quicks Matheesha Pathirana and Dilshan Madushanka were ruled out of the series with injuries.

Chasing the target, Indian openers Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill put on a solid 75-run opening partnership for the first wicket, making the 231-run target seem easy. 

However, young Wellalage dismissed both openers when the Indian scoreboard was at 80. 

Sharma was dismissed for 58 runs. Akila Dananjaya struck later, dismissing Washington Sundar for just 5 runs.

Virat Kohli was dismissed by Wanindu Hasaranga for 24 runs, while Shreyas Iyer was bowled by Asitha Fernando for 23 runs. Shreyas and Kohli put on a 43-run partnership for the fourth wicket.

Sri Lankan bowlers were under pressure after Axar Patel and KL Rahul put on a 55-run partnership for the sixth wicket. However, Hasaranga staged an impressive comeback and dismissed Rahul for 31 in the 40th over. Skipper Asalanka then dismissed the set batter Patel for 33 runs.

Shivam Dube, who came in as the number eight batsman, scored 25 runs before being dismissed as the ninth wicket by Asalanka after the score was leveled. Asalanka then dismissed Arshdeep Singh with the very next ball to tie the match.

Dunith Wellalage won the Player of the Match for his brilliant all-round performance. 

He commented that the wicket was helping spin, so he wanted to put the opposition under pressure. "Me and Liyanage wanted to put on a partnership, and then I had a good partnership with Hasaranga. The wicket was slow, so we planned to score about 220."

India captain Rohit Sharma said in the presentation that he was disappointed to not get 1 run with 14 balls.

The second ODI match will be played in Colombo, Sunday.

Scores:

Sri Lanka

• P. Nissanka lbw b W. Sundar 56
• A. Fernando c A. Singh b M. Siraj 01
• K. Mendis lbw b S. Dube 14
• S. Samarawickrama c S. Gill b A. Patel 8
• C. Asalanka c Sharma b K. Yadav 14
• J. Liyanage c Sharma b A. Patel 20
• D. Wellalage not out 67
• W. Hasaranga c Patel b A. Singh 24
• A. Dananjaya c W. Sundar b A. Singh 17
• M. Shiraz not out 01

Extras: (lb 2, w 6) 08
Total: (Eight wickets, 50 overs) 230
Fall of wickets: 1-7, 2-46, 3-60, 4-91, 5-101, 6-142, 7-178, 8-224
Bowling: M. Siraj 8-2-36-1, A. Singh 8-0-47-2, A. Patel 10-0-33-2, S. Dube 4-0-19-1, K. Yadav 10-0-33-1, W. Sundar 9-1-46-1, S. Gill 1-0-14-0

India

• R. Sharma lbw b D. Wellalage 58
• S. Gill c K. Mendis b D. Wellalage 16
• V. Kohli lbw b W. Hasaranga 24
• W. Sundar lbw b A. Dananjaya 05
• S. Iyer b A. Fernando 23
• K. Rahul c Wellalage b W. Hasaranga 31
• A. Patel c K. Mendis b C. Asalanka 33
• S. Dube lbw b C. Asalanka 25
• K. Yadav b W. Hasaranga 02
• M. Siraj not out 05
• A. Singh lbw b C. Asalanka 00

Extras: (lb 4, w 4) 08
Total: (All out, 47.5 overs) 230
Fall of wickets: 1-75, 2-80, 3-87, 4-130, 5-132, 6-189, 7-197, 8-211, 9-230, 10-230
Bowling: A. Fernando 6-1-34-1, M. Shiraz 4-0-25-0, D. Wellalage 9-1-39-2, A. Dananjaya 10-0-40-1, W. Hasaranga 10-0-58-3, C. Asalanka 8.5-0-30-3

Pix by: Pradeep Dilrukshana