Kolkata: The Indian team produced one of it’s most dominant performances in ODI cricket after they handed a nine-wicket defeat to hosts Sri Lanka in the first of the five-match ODI series in Dambulla on Sunday.
The match had began with the Sri Lankan batters dominating the Indian bowlers and at one point of time, it looked as if they would post a huge total on the board for Virat Kohli and co to chase it down. But after the top three fell, the rest of the batting collapsed like a house of cards and from a strong 139/1 at one stage, the hosts were shot out for just 216 runs, as they were unable to bat for the entire 50 overs.
What followed next was absolute carnage as opener Shikhar Dhawan along with skipper Kohli stitched an unbeaten 197 run stand, the characteristic of which was the sheer domination shown by the Indian duo. None of the Sri Lankan bowlers could trouble both these batsmen as they smashed boundaries at will and ran fast between the wickets to register a comfortable victory win 127 balls to spare.
Well, that has indeed set the tone for the next ODI scheduled to be held in Pallekele on Thursday. The Sri Lankans would need to lift up their performance both with the bat and ball if they are to pose any threat to the visitors. The local fans might have increased their hopes of a dominant performance by their team with the addition of premier paceman Lasith Malinga. But the 33-year failed to make any impact with the ball, which might be an even greater cause of worry for the hosts if they are to find out a proper team combination heading into the second ODI.
All three aspects of the game-batting, bowling and fielding have gone terribly wrong for the Sri Lankans. They would hope to put up a decent show in the second match, given the fact that they need to win atleast two matches in the five-match series to secure an automatic qualification for the 2019 edition of the World Cup to be held in England and Wales.
The Indians on the other hand would be mighty pleased with their performance and would look to repeat the same in the second match as well. Ever since the tour began, they have been absolutely ruthless and have put up performances that have indeed made a statement or two. The one thing that they would want to address is the running between the wickets after opener Rohit Sharma was involved in a mix-up with Dhawan leading to the former losing his wicket quite early in the chase.