Charith Asalanka’s Sri Lanka national cricket team hosted Rohit Sharma’s India national cricket team in the second ODI of the three-match series at the R Premadasa Stadium in Colombo on Sunday, August 4.
Charith Asalanka’s team won the toss and elected to bat first. They got off to a poor start as Pathum Nissanka was out for a duck. However, Avishka Fernando and Kusal Mendis batted well and did not allow the Indian bowlers to put any pressure on them.
After that, Charith Asalanka, Dunith Wellalage and Kamindu Mendis contributed a lot. Also, Akila Dananjaya and Sadeera Samarawickrama put in good performances as Sri Lanka finished with 240/9 on the board.
For the Indian national cricket team, Washington Sundar (3), Kuldeep Yadav (2), Mohammed Siraj (1) and Axar Patel (1) were among the wickets.
I was very satisfied with the result – Charith Asalanka
As far as defending the total is concerned, Sri Lankan bowlers did a poor job in the first half of the innings and were the ones on the receiving end of Rohit Sharma’s attack. The Indian captain was ultra-aggressive and smashed the Sri Lankan bowlers all over the pitch.
Jeffrey Vandersay was the one who orchestrated Sri Lanka’s comeback. He first removed Rohit Sharma and then took 5 more wickets to complete a total of 6 wickets. Charith Asalanka did the rest of the job with his 3 wickets as Sri Lanka beat India for 208 and won by 32 runs.
At the post-match presentation ceremony, Sri Lanka captain Charith Asalanka said he was happy with the total his team posted. Asalanka also heaped praise on Jeffrey Vandersay, giving the bowler all the credit for the win.
Asked about the possibility of having multiple spin-bowling options available in the team, Charith Asalanka said he is happy with that because it is a good problem that every team would want.
Charith Asalanka, speaking about his own role, said that he is a batsman who can spin his arms when required. Charith Asalanka explained:
“I was very pleased with the result. 240 was enough. As captain, I need to have these kinds of problems (lots of spin options).
“It was an amazing moment for him (Vandersay). There were over 90 runs when he came in to bowl. I’m primarily a batsman, I have to score runs. After that, I can bowl a few overs.”
Notably, Charith Asalanka has been operating with the ball for the Sri Lanka National Cricket Team in the ongoing series and has made a huge impact, putting the Indian batsmen under pressure with his spin-bowling performances on the Colombo surface.
The third and final ODI match of India’s tour of Sri Lanka 2024 will be held at the R Premadasa Stadium in Colombo. The match between the Rohit Sharma-led team and the Charith Asalanka-led team will be held on Wednesday, August 7.
