Ahmedabad: India beat Sri Lanka by six wickets in the second ODI at the Sardar Patel Stadium in Motera, Ahmedabad on Thursday. Chasing 275, the men in blue finished the match with five overs to spare with Ambati Rayudu scoring his debut ODI century.
Batting first, the visitors put up 274/8 in their stipulated 50 overs with captain Angelo Mathews remaining unbeaten on 92.
Brief scores: India: 275/4 in 44.3 overs (A Rayudu 121*, S Dhawan 79, V Kohli 49; S Prasanna 3/53) beat Sri Lanka 274/8 (A Mathews 92*; U Yadav 2/54, R Ashwin 2/49, A Patel 2/39) by six wickets
India lost Ajinkya Rahane in the seventh over, chasing Sri Lanka's 275. Shikhar Dhawan continued his good run and scored a fantastic 79.
Earlier, Umesh Yadav helped India make a bright start after he dismissed Kusal Perera in the first over. The man who replaced Tharanga could not even open his account and was caught plumb in front.
(Photo: BCCI)
Kumar Sangakkara joined Dilshan in the middle. Sri Lanka needed these two to bat long and bat well in order to avoid a repeat of a batting performance from previous game,
They did not hit the ground running as Indian medium pacers put them under pressure. however, the sight of R Ashwin was enough for Dilshan as he launched into the attack. Sri Lanka brought up their fifty in the 10th over.
However, the Dilshan show came to an abrupt end when he was catled by Akshar Patel in his first over. R Ashwin then cut short Mahela Jayawardene as the willy Sri Lankan found Ambati Rayudu who made no mistake at deep midwicket.
(Photo: BCCI)
Skipper Mathews and Kumar Sangakkara then settled the Sri Lankan inning after two quick dismissals. While the left-hander was watchful, Mathews displayed some aggression as Sri Lanka brought up their hundred in the 22nd over.
(Photo: BCCI)
The duo looked good to continue to bat long. However, Umesh Yadav dashed Sri Lanka's plans when the speedster picked up his second wicket of the match dismissing Sangakkara - who was looking dangerous. The left-hander walked back to the pavillion offering a simple catch to Shikhar Dhawan.
Sri Lankan inning was once again hit by freefall of wicket as Seekkuge Prasanna got out off Jadeja's bowling in the 36th over. Rayudu then showed his fielding brilliance when he ran out Ashan Priyanjan in the same over.
Thisara Perera too could not accompany skipper Angelo Mathews as his defence was rattled by Akshar Patel. Suraj Randiv too could not offer much to Sri Lanka's total.
Fortunately for Angelo Mathews, Dhammika Prasad gave him a much needed company as the duo took Sri Lanka past 270 in their quota of 50 overs. Mathews remained unbeaten on 92 while Prasad scored 30.
Teams:
India: Shikhar Dhawan, Ajinkya Rahane, Virat Kohli (captain), Ambati Rayudu, Suresh Raina, Ravindra Jadeja, Wriddhiman Saha (wicketkeeper), R Ashwin, Akshar Patel, Umesh Yadav, Ishant Sharma.
Sri Lanka: Kusal Perera, Tilakratne Dilshan, Kumar Sangkkara (wicketkeeper), Mahela Jayawardene, Angelo Mathews (captain), Ashan Priyanjan, Thisara Perera, Seekkuge Prasanna, Suraj Randiv, Dhammika Prasad, Lahiru Gamage.
