IND vs SL 1st ODI: Dube Stars as India Deny loss in a Nailbiter!

IND vs SL 1st ODI: What a match! What the spirit! It was India vs Sri Lanka 1st ODI! Sri Lanka managed a narrow escape from the first loss of the series in the opening match.

Oh boy! Charith Asalanka was the man for Sri Lanka when they almost lost the game. 1 run needed from more than two overs but still, the match was tied! Let's take a look at the match summary of IND vs SL 1st ODI:

IND vs SL 1st ODI: Match Summary

The match started with the home team winning the toss. The hosts asked India to bowl first and Siraj got the new ball to share with Arshdeep Singh. Siraj drew the first blood of Avishka Fernando on the 15th ball of the game.

India were in an attacking mode and here Sri Lankan players should be praised that they handled the pressure for 10 overs. Dube and Axar picked up the two wickets in quick succession and India were back on top.

Washi Sunder dismissed Pathum Nissanka and then Sri Lanka were 5 down for 101 runs. It was Dunith Wellalage, who took charge and some small contributions from the other team members were the cherry on the cake. Riding over his brilliant 67 off 65 not out, Sri Lanka reached 230 after 50 overs. This, however, was the first innings average of the venue.

The chase was never going to be easy for India as the pitch was hard to bat on but Sri Lanka missed the trick and Rohit Sharma took full advantage. The skipper Sharma posted a 33-ball half-century that pushed Sri Lanka on the backfoot right from the start of the game.

Sri Lanka kept the fire on with three wickets under 12 runs soon and the game was on! Kohli and Iyer built a partnership but Hasaranga walked through it. KL Rahul and Axar Patel also got good starts but none could capitalise on it.

Shivam Dube played an excellent knock lower down the order when India were almost on the verge of loss. He took the game down to 1 run needed on more than a dozen deliveries but India lost 8 wickets till then.

Then the savior for Sri Lanka, the skipper Charith Asalanka took the ball and dismissed (LBW) Shivam Dube and Arshdeep Singh on two back-to-back deliveries, and the match tied. The Colombo Croud certainly enjoyed the match.

READ: ICC T20I Team Rankings Latest Updated after IND vs SL on 31 July