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India won the ODI between India and Sri Lanka by 6 wickets at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata yesterday. This match can even be said to be an unforgettable match for Kuldeep Yadav.
He took three wickets and crippled Sri Lanka’s middle order. Before the start of the second ODI, Yasvendra Chahal was included in the squad as he did not recover in time. Yesterday he gave a perfect performance for such inclusion.
When the Sri Lankan team scored 102 runs for the loss of one wicket, Rohit Sharma brought in Kuldeep Yadav in the 17th over. Kuldeep gets Kusal Mendis out with an lbw wicket.
Kuldeep also has the honor of dismissing 28-year-old Dasun Shanaka, the captain of the Sri Lankan team, by just two runs. Dasun Shanaka tries to knock away Kuldeep’s full length delivery. But with that effort the ball penetrated his leg and he was bowled by the ball.
200th international wicket
Kuldeep Yadav did not stop with beating the Sri Lankan captain. In the fifth over he bowled, he also took the wicket of Charit Asalanga.
Kuldeep Yadav, along with left-arm bowler Akshar Patel, kept the bowling in a very tight style during Sri Lanka’s batting. They refused to offer hope that Sri Lanka could recover. With this, he took his 200th international wicket in his 107th international match.
With this being a World Cup year, especially in India, his performance has been unmistakable.
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A challenging Eden Gardens ground
“I was in two minds whether to bat first or not. Considering how we played last time I wanted to opt to bat first. But after seeing this ground, I wanted to choose fielding,” said Rohit Sharma while tossing.
However, the Sri Lankan team won the toss. Dasun Shanaka chose to bat. In fact, as Rohit Sharma said at the Eden Gardens, India’s fielding has paid off well.
As for Eden Gardens, it is not easy to bowl in daylight in ODIs. Due to the prevailing climate there, it is difficult to catch the ball at night. That’s why some captains will ask for fielding first.
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Sri Lanka’s strong batting
But in terms of batting, scoring more than 300 is rare on that ground, where 250 is difficult to get. In such a situation, captains think that they should choose to bat first and score more runs and put pressure on the team that comes to bat second. Dasun Shanaka has done the same.
It was a strong start for Sri Lanka. But Avishka Fernando scored 20 runs off 17 balls and was dismissed. After this, Kusal Mendis and Nuwanidu Fernando added 73 runs before the second wicket fell. Both took Sri Lanka’s run tally to over 100 in the 17th over.
At that time, it seemed that the Sri Lankan team was going to take their total of more than 300 runs. But it was not possible as the spinner got caught in the magic of Kuldeep Yadav.
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A bowler looking for success
Kuldeep got Mendis out lbw in the last ball of the 17th over. Sri Lanka’s setback started with this wicket. Their next 6 wickets all fell within the next 50 runs. Apart from Mendis, Kuldeep Yadav has the honor of taking the wickets of Aslanka and captain Dasun Shanaka.
He also got the man of the match award for that. In this World Cup year, Kuldeep Yadav has proved that he is a bowler who can find success and has caught the attention of many.
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KL Rahul, Hardik Pandya alliance
With India losing four wickets for 84 runs, KL Rahul’s batting was enough to tire the Sri Lankan bowlers. He finished 5th in very tough conditions. He formed a shrewd partnership with Hardik Pandya.
Both scored 75 runs together. Hardik Pandya was dismissed for 36 runs. But Rahul stood till the end and gave India the victory.
He scored 64 off 103 balls. There was no rush to score quick runs in this match. But it is important not to lose wickets. KL Rahul realized it well and played a sensible game.
His sharp approach was a huge help to India in defeating Sri Lanka.
India finally reached the target in the 44th over and won by 4 wickets. With this, India won the 3-match ODI series against Sri Lanka by 2-0.
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