It is often said, ‘lightning never strikes twice’. India and Sri Lanka, though, seem to be on a mission to prove the saying wrong after playing their second tied encounter in as many games, albeit in different formats. In the third and final T20I in Pallekele, the Lankans made a mess of a small chase, tied a game they should have won, and eventually lost in the Super Over.

On Friday, India returned the favour in the first One-Day International, failing to score one run despite having two wickets and 15 balls before being bowled out. The only difference this time was that there was no one-over shoot-out to break the logjam.

When the two sides square off against each other for the second One-Day International at the R. Premadasa International Stadium on Sunday, the focus will be on being more clinical in closing out the match and not allowing the opposition a chance to get back into the contest.

The pitch for the first game aided spinners considerably, and once the ball became soft, boundaries were hard to come by. Though Sri Lankan interim head coach Sanath Jayasuriya said on the eve of the opening game that he hoped to get good surfaces suitable for one-day cricket, it remains to be seen if the strip for Sunday’s game will be drastically different.

India will rue the first outing as a missed opportunity in not taking a 1-0 lead in the three-match series despite dominating most phases of the game.

The Indian bowlers were largely impressive, and skipper Rohit Sharma showed no signs of rustiness on his return to ODIs for the first time since the heartbreaking defeat in the World Cup final against Australia last November.

He continued from where he left off in the World Cup by being aggressive in the PowerPlay.

However, Once the spinners came on, most Indian batters struggled to rotate the strike, and the boundaries dried up. The team will look to improve in this area and establish a few more enduring partnerships.

The first ODI also gave a glimpse of what the team is looking to build under new coach Gautam Gambhir. Like in the T20Is,

The penchant for having more than a few left-handed batters was visible, with Washington Sundar, Axar Patel, and Shivam Dube forming the core of the middle order.

With K.L. Rahul continuing to keep wickets, India seems to be prioritising having the cushion of a sixth bowler over Rishabh Pant’s X-factor for now.

On the other hand, the hosts continue to fret over a fragile middle-order that continues to struggle against the Indian tweakers. Without Dunith Wellalage’s lower-order resistance, the Lions were in danger of being bundled out cheaply.

Later, the spinners maximised the conditions to avoid the ignominy of another defeat, and Sri Lanka emerged from the first game as moral winners. On Sunday, the home team would want to make it a statistical reality.

Ahead of the second match, Sri Lanka received another injury blow after leg-spinner Wanindu Hasaranga was ruled out of the remaining two fixtures due to a hamstring injury he suffered during the first ODI.

Fellow leggie Jeffrey Vandersay has been named as Hasaranga’s replacement.

The teams (from):

India: Rohit Sharma (Capt.), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, K.L. Rahul, Rishabh Pant, Shreyas Iyer, Shivam Dube, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohd. Siraj, Washington Sundar, Arshdeep Singh, Riyan Parag, Axar Patel, Khaleel Ahmed and Harshit Rana.

Sri Lanka: Charith Asalanka (Capt.), Pathum Nissanka, Avishka Fernando, Kusal Mendis, Sadeera Samarawickrama, Kamindu Mendis, Janith Liyanage, Nishan Madushka, Jeffrey Vandersay, Dunith Wellalage, Chamika Karunaratne, Maheesh Theekshana, Akila Dananjaya, Asitha Fernando, Mohamed Shiraz and Eshan Malinga

Match starts at 2.30 p.m. IST.

Sri Lanka’s Charith Asalanka punches in the air as he completes the winning as Pakistan’s Zaman Khan watches during the Asia Cup cricket match between Pakistan and Sri Lanka in Colombo.
| Photo Credit: AP

Batting allrounder Charith Asalanka described his sensational 47-ball 49 not out as the second best knock of his career after taking Sri Lanka to the final of the Asia Cup with a two-wicket win in a last-ball thriller against Pakistan here on Thursday.

The 26-year-old Asalanka kept his composure despite a mini batting collapse in the back end as Sri Lanka chased down a target of 252 in the last delivery.

“I just thought how can I get two to hit a gap and run hard because it is a big field and just told Pathirana to run hard,” he said after the match.

“I thought either he will bowl a bouncer or a yorker and then he bowled a slower ball, so it was in my side. I am very excited.

“Mendis and Sadeera batted really well. I wanted to finish. That is my role. I can rank this innings second place in my book,” he added.

Kusal Mendis slammed a 87-ball 91 to set up the chase. He added 100 off 98 balls with Sadeera Samarawickrama (48).

“Happy with my performance, happy to get to the final,” said Mendis, who was adjudged the Player of the Match.

“Those two wickets fell down and we were nervous, but with Charith in the middle we had hope. He’s done this in one game against Afghanistan. I think we also bowled really well, so happy to be in the final.

“Wanindu, Kumara and Dusmantha are main bowlers, but we have these bowlers who are bowling well. This is a young unit.” Winning captain Dasun Shanaka praised his team for reaching back-to-back finals.

“We had the game under control, but the losing of wickets took it till the last over. We gave them a chance to come back in the game, but we knew Charith could get us home,” he said.

“We had a discussion before batting and we discussed the mistakes we made in the India game. We gave away wickets in the first 10 overs, and Kusal and Sadeera played brilliant knocks.

“I think they are the best players of spin in the Sri Lanka squad. And Charith, he showed great character. Special feeling, back to back finals.” Disappointed with loss, Pakistan captain Babar Azam pulled up his bowlers for a below-par performance.

“Sri Lanka played very well, better cricket than us. We have not been up to the mark in the bowling and fielding. That is why we lost the match,” he said

“In the middle overs, we did not bowl well. That partnership cost us. We started well, ended well, but middle overs were not great. We have lacked that.”