14 December,2017 10:39 AM IST | Mohali | Harit N Joshi
The manner in which yesterday's second one-day international here panned out for Sri Lanka was a far cry to what happened in the opening game of the series in Dharamsala
The manner in which yesterday's second one-day international here panned out for Sri Lanka was a far cry to what happened in the opening game of the series in Dharamsala. While Sri Lanka hardly put a foot wrong in the first ODI on Sunday, the visitors had nothing going their way yesterday.
Angelo Mathews
Sri Lanka's bowling falling apart on an unresponsive pitch here was the major difference. Lanka's batsmen, barring Angelo Mathews, who slammed an unbeaten 111, caved in under the pressure while chasing India's 392-4 in 50 overs and managed just 251-8. After pinning India down to 29-7 on the seaming Dharamsala pitch before the hosts folded up for 112, one expected the Sri Lankan pacers to come all guns firing here. Thisara Perera was not hesitant to bowl after winning the toss, expecting his bowling arsenal to further expose the under-pressure Indian batsmen. It was good to a point when Sri Lanka conceded just 33 runs in the first Powerplay.
Their new ball bowlers - Suranga Lakmal, the hero of the Dharamsala where he finished with 4-13 - and Angelo Mathews kept the heat on India despite the temperature dipping gradually. Lakmal finished his first spell with 4-0-20-0 while Mathews ended with 4-1-9-0 and never returned to bowl again. Dhawan paid the price of playing across to left-arm spinner Sachith Pathirana.'
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