Charith Asalanka's maiden ODI fifty and Chamika Karunaratne's unbeaten knock of 44 runs helped Sri Lanka get to a total of 275/9 in 2nd ODI.
The middle overs-woes continued for Sri Lanka as they lost six wickets in the 11-40 overs period, however, left-handed batsman Charith Asalanka and Chamika Karunaratne scored some late runs in the final powerplay to help their side reach a score of 275/9 in the second one-day international against India at R Premadasa Stadium in Colombo.
The leg-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal and fast bowler and vice-captain Bhuvneshwar Kumar took three wickets each and helped India keep the scoring rate of the hosts in check.
Similar to the first game, Team India failed to take a wicket in the powerplay and Sri Lanka made the most of it as the openers Avishka Fernando and Minod Bhanuka looked much more assured on Tuesday and made the Indian bowlers pay, as and when they missed their lines and lengths.
Both Avishka and Minod looked to be aggressive from the start after playing watchful first three overs as they didn't leave any bad balls and played them on merit. The duo brought up a fifty partnership in just the eighth over and had started to dictate the terms. Sri Lanka were 59/0 after the first powerplay and India were desperately in need of a breakthrough as their early wickets woes came to haunt them again.
However, it was the leg-spinner, Yuzvendra Chahal, again, who provided his side with the first wicket as he sent Minod Bhanuka back, getting him to play in the air straight to the short mid-wicket fielder Manish Pandey. Chahal didn't take much time to get his second as he sent back Bhanuka Rajapaksa on the next delivery getting him caught behind.
Fernando brought up his half-century, however, got out soon after. Dhananjaya de Silva, after playing a measured knock of 36 runs too got out as he was looking to up the tempo. The middle-order problem for Sri Lanka side persisted as whenever they looked to score quick runs, they lost a wicket and the run rate never reached above 5.
The middle-order batsman Charith Asalanka then played a gritty knock and kept the scorecard ticking for his side before bringing up his maiden fifty. He along with Chamika Karunaratne provided the late push to help Sri Lanka get to a total of 275/9.
Deepak Chahar took a couple of wickets apart from three-wicket hauls by Chahal and Bhuvneshwar.
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 "Charith Asalanka, Yuzvendra Chahal")
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