IND vs SL: Sri Lanka snatches victory from India, match ends in tie at Colombo

IND vs SL: Sri Lanka snatched victory from India's jaw in a nail-biting thriller at Colombo on Friday. After a solid opening partnership, losing wickets at regular intervals cost them heavily. India needed just one run in 15 deliveries with two wickets in hand. Shivam Dube was on strike. Would you believe it? India failed to win from this situation. 

Sri Lankan skipper Charith Asalanka took consecutive wickets in the next two balls. First, he dismissed Shivam Dube then followed by Arshdeep Singh. Dube looked to defend the ball while Singh fell for wild hoic.   

As it happened

In pursuit of 231, Indian openers provided a solid start to the innings. The opener duo of Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill added 75 runs for the first wicket. Skipper Rohit Sharma was the clutch player in the partnership. He hammered a fiery fifty on a pitch that had plenty of support for spinners.

Dunith Wellalage strikes twice

Dunith Wellalage broke the partnership and provided the breakthrough for Sri Lanka. Gill scored 16 off 35. Wellalage struck again in the next over and caught the big fish. This time, Rohit Sharma fell for the trap. He scored 58 off 47 deliveries, including 7 boundaries and 3 maximums.

A thrilling start to the #SLvIND ODI series.

The First ODI ends in a tie.

Scorecard ▶️ https://t.co/4fYsNEzggf#TeamIndia pic.twitter.com/ILQvB1FDyk

— BCCI (@BCCI) August 2, 2024

After the departure of the opening duo Virat Kohli and Washington Sundar took charge. Washington Sundar was a surprise pick for number four. However, the experiment backfired as Akila Dananjaya dismissed his for a mere 5 runs. 

India loses wickets at regular interval

KL Rahul and Virat Kohli added some handy runs. However, Wanindu Hasaranga cut short Kohli's stay at the crease. He scored 24 off 32. Shreyas Iyer and Axar Patel also got start but failed to take their side to the finish line. Shivam Dube held one end and looked to finish the game but Sri Lankan bowlers bounced back brilliantly and took back the game. The first ODI at R Premadasa Stadium in Colombo ended in a tie. 

Earlier, India on the back of a brilliant bowling performance, restricted Sri Lanka to 230/8 in the first ODI match at R Premadasa Stadium in Colombo. Dunith Wellalage was the top batter from Sri Lanka, who scored half a century.

Line-ups for series opener

India XI: Rohit Sharma (c), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul (wk), Washington Sundar, Shivam Dube, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Arshdeep Singh and Mohammed Siraj.

Sri Lanka XI: Pathum Nissanka, Avishka Fernando, Kusal Mendis (wk), Sadeera Samarawickrama, Charith Asalanka (c), Janith Liyanage, Wanindu Hasaranga, Dunith Wellalage, Akila Dananjaya, Asitha Fernando and Mohamed Shiraz.