The Indian Express (Delhi Edition)
On throwback pitch, Indian batsmen find going tough
THE SLOW pitch at the Premadasa was a throwback to the 90s. The seamers found movement with the new ball, but quick runs were in the offering too. Once the spinners came on, batsmen were in for a grind, where they had to indulge in ones and twos. The conditions dictated batsmen to play a different brand of cricket, but neither set of batsmen quite mastered it. After a seven- and- a- half hour slugfest, there was nothing to separate largely ordinary batting from both teams as the first ODI ended in a tie.
If not for Rohit
Sharma’s aggressive approach at the top where he mixed aggression with caution, India would have fallen way short of the target of 231 on a pitch that got progressively slower under lights. At 71/ 0 after 10 overs, India were cruising. But the Premadasa pitch comes to life under lights, a familiar sight of the 90s. And their spinners often make a match out of this. Every time India surged ahead, the hosts hit back, a theme that repeated throughout the evening. When Shivam Dube smashed a boundary off Charith Asalanka over with 5 needed off 16 deliveries and two wickets in hand, it appeared over. But Asalanka dismissed Dube and Arshdeep Singh off successive deliveries to tie the match. Playing the first ODI in over six months, rustiness of Indian batsmen was evident. After Rohit gave them a head start in the chase, making a 47- ball 58 which included seven boundaries and three sixes, the required run- rate remained under control until the end. All that India needed was one big partnership, if not two. But barring the 57- run stand between KL Rahul and Axar Patel for the sixth wicket, India’s batsmen lost the way as Sri Lanka’s spinners took 9 of the 10 wickets. After Rohit’s 57, only Axar and Rahul managed to cross 30s as Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer and Dube all squandered starts.
Handy spinners
The Lankan pace attack is inexperienced, but their spinners – Wanindu Hasaranga, Dunith Wellalage, Akila Dananjaya – are all handy operators in home conditions. Once the new ball became soft, they made it difficult for India’s batsmen. Like India’s spinners, they altered the pace adeptlt, mostly keeping it on 80kph or thereabouts. As the ball got softer, it gripped and turned.
But when Rahul and Axar batted together, it seemed India have figured their way out. Most of their runs came in singles and twos as they went without a boundary for 52 deliveries. However, with the game in their graspo, Rahul would go for a sweep off Hasaranga, only to top- edge it to the short mid- wicket. India were still 41 runs away with 10 overs in hand. But Asalanka ejected Axar to keep the game on a knife’s edge. All this could have been avoided had India’s bowlers had managed to close out the game when Sri Lanka were 101/ 5 in 26.3 overs. Even Dunith Wellalage, who top- scored with an unbeaten 67, lived dangerously at the start, playing with hard hands unsuitable on this surface. But once he got through the anxious period with a help from DRS, the 21- year- old earmarked for a great career, showed his mettle. With Liyanagae, he stitched 41, before adding 36 and 46 with Hasaranga and Akila.
BRIEF SCORES: Sri Lanka
230 for 8 ( Wellalage 67*; Axar 233) tied with India 230 ( Rohit 58; Asalanka 3- 30, Hasaranga 3- 58)