Sri Lanka needed 17 runs in the last 3 overs. They had 4 wickets in hand. Thirty-year-old Sahan Arachchige was batting at 74 off just 71 balls against a young Indian pace attack, who are yet to make their ODI debuts.
Seventeen runs in the last 18 balls with one set batter at the crease is a dream equation for any team. Batting against two pacers who did not have any impact whatsoever in their opening spells of the innings was exactly the kind of situation that hosts Sri Lanka wanted in the opening game of the tri-series.
And yet, somehow, India dragged the game back in their favour, just out of the sheer will and experience that perhaps the Indian Premier League provided these two pacers over the last couple of months.
Sri Lanka A lost their heads in the last 11 balls of the contest and ended up throwing away a relatively simple chase. Absolute harakiri in the final few deliveries resulted in them collapsing from 261/6 to getting bowled out for 269 in a chase of 278.
Sri Lanka’s downfall was started by none other than Anshul Kamboj, who made it a habit of bowling around-the-wicket yorkers in the death overs during the IPL. Bowling to the set Sahan Arachchige, Kamboj did not have to create the around-the-wicket angle to the left-hander. Instead, he hurled it in from over the wicket to shatter the stumps.
So, at 47.2, Sri Lanka A were 262/7, still needing 16 off 16 balls. Kamboj conceded a total of 7 runs in that over, reducing the margin to 10 off 12 balls, with 3 wickets still in hand. Not a cakewalk, but definitely a favourable equation for the hosts.
After Kamboj’s over, India captain Tilak Varma turned to the only other specialist fast bowler he had, Arshad Khan.
Coming in to bowl after figures of 4-0-23-0, Arshad pinged in a length ball from around the wicket against V Viyaskanth. Arshad hit the batter on the off stump, perhaps slightly on the higher side, but the umpire was convinced enough to call it out.
The equation now down to 9 runs in 10 balls with 2 wickets in hand.
Arshad’s next delivery was chipped by pacer Mohammed Shiraz straight back to the bowler. Arshad missed the ball, which then rolled off to Ruturaj Gaikwad at mid-on. Gaikwad collected the ball and raced towards the non-striker’s end seeing that Wanuja Sahan had gone out of his crease, hoping to run a single.
The event resulted in a suicidal run-out for Sri Lanka, where they lost batter Wanuja Sahan for 23 off 16 balls, essentially wiping out all hope for the side.
Equation now had come down to 9 runs off 9 balls with just one final wicket in hand.
And from there on, there was only one result possible. Arshad Khan sealed the result two deliveries later. Mohamed Shiraz tried his luck one last time, hitting the ball hard into the deep, but Vipraj Nigam completed a comfortable catch to seal the match for India.
Sri Lanka, who were heavy favourites to win the match at the 47th over, had lost by 8 runs, with 7 balls still remaining.
INDIA MADE TO WORK HARD BY SRI LANKA
But before that 11-ball madness, it was a painful watch for India fans who possibly thought that they were dying a slow death against a strong Sri Lankan side. Having scored 277, courtesy of Ruturaj Gaikwad’s century, India failed to put any pressure on Sri Lanka.
Openers Avishka Fernando and Niroshan Dickwella, both experienced campaigners at the international stage, added 93 runs for the first-wicket partnership. The duo punished Arshad Khan and Anshul Kamboj in their opening spells, with timely boundaries in the opening powerplay.
Seeing that the openers were dictating the play, Tilak Varma was forced to put the last throw of the dice, bringing in Ayush Badoni’s off-spin despite windy conditions.
And lo and behold, Badoni struck twice in back-to-back overs, handing India the wickets of both openers and helping the visitors make a comeback in the game.
However, India failed to capitalise on their momentum and let batters Sadeera Samarawickrama (46 off 51) and Sahan Arachchige (74 off 72) play brisk innings. The partnerships helped Sri Lanka dictate the play, despite Indian spinners Anukul Roy (2/49) and Ayush Badoni (2/46) bowling well in their full 10 overs.
While batters like Chamika Karunaratne (9 off 21) and Ravindu Fernando (1 off 5) struggled, the innings of Arachchige kept Sri Lanka afloat going into the final 5 overs.
Sri Lanka were in a winning position, almost, but somehow managed to give it all away, handing Tilak Varma’s team a sigh of big relief on Tuesday.
A little credit for that also needs to be given to two batters, Ruturaj Gaikwad and Suryansh Shedge, who helped India put up a decent total in tricky conditions today.
RUTURAJ GAIKWAD STARS WITH THE BAT
Ignored in India’s ODI squad against Afghanistan, Ruturaj Gaikwad proved the selectors wrong with a quality hundred in India A’s first game. Coming in to bat after the dismissals of Vaibhav Sooryavanshi and Prabhsimran Singh, Ruturaj was forced to remain patient and build India’s innings while others struggled around him.
Originally, India’s innings was off to a disastrous start after Prabhsimran Singh was bounced out by Chamika in the 4th over. Vaibhav, despite starting well with 3 fours, ended up lofting a catch to mid-off, marking the end of both openers inside the first 5 overs.
Ruturaj held the innings with Priyansh Arya (32 off 32) to stabilise India’s innings inside the first powerplay. After the dismissal of Priyansh in the 13th over, Ruturaj partnered with a struggling Tilak Varma (60 off 97) to get India out of trouble.
While the run-scoring was slow, mostly due to a slow and turning pitch in Dambulla, Ruturaj made sure he did not get sucked into an ultra-defensive mode like Tilak, who completed his fifty only in the 41st over.
Gaikwad looked the most comfortable with the bat on Tuesday, hitting some splendid shots through the day and finishing with 101 runs off 114 balls.
After Gaikwad’s dismissal, young Suryansh Shedge, who impressed for Punjab Kings this season, took matters into his own hands and hit 26 not out off 14 balls to push India past 250. Suryansh’s innings and Ayush Badoni’s 24 off 18 were worth their weight in gold as India found enough runs to defend in Dambulla on Tuesday.
Having won a tricky game, India will take one day of rest and face Afghanistan A in their next game. The match is scheduled to be played at the same venue on June 11.
– Ends
