CHENNAI: It was the 32nd over of the chase. India, at that point, were 156/5, needing 75 runs from 18 overs. Charith Asalanka was standing at the slips, wearing a disappointed look. He had just dropped KL Rahul, who was on 13 from 21 balls, off Akila Dananjaya.
Had he held on to that, the balance would have tilted towards the home side. And they needed it more than ever. A 0-3 sweep in T20Is, was followed by another collapse in the first ODI before Dunith Wellalage’s heroic act took them to a respectable total at the R Premadasa Stadium on Friday.
And having ensured Rohit Sharma’s onslaught (58 off 47) did not take the game away from Sri Lanka, the Asalanka-led side kept coming at India. So when Asalanka dropped Rahul, it was perhaps the best chance for his side to put pressure on the Men in Blue with Axar Patel at the other end.
However, the Sri Lankan skipper did not give up. Instead, he took things upon himself. Having already bowled a couple of overs, he persisted from one end while bringing back Mohamed Shiraz. The Indian duo, knowing the target was not out of reach, did not hurry. Asalanka, too, did not panic. He played the long game.
Wanindu Hasaranga gave the big breakthrough with the wicket of Rahul. In the very next over, Asalanka got rid of Axar and the game was on. The pressure got to his Kuldeep Yadav who was cleaned up by Hasaranga. Eight down, India were still in the chase.
They needed Shivam Dube to get a couple of big hits, which he almost did, to close out the game. The scores were level and the ball was once again in Asalanka’s court. The Sri Lankan pitched it on a good length, the ball held its line, beating the inside edge of Dube to trap him on the pads for 25.
Asalanka trapped Arshdeep Sing and Sri Lanka had avoided a defeat.
They might not have a win in this series yet, but on Friday, Asalanka believed. He said not today, and so did his Sri Lankan team.
Brief scores: SL 230/8 in 50 ovs (Nissanka 56, Wellalage 67) tie with India 230 all out in 47.5 ovs (Rohit 58; Asalanka 3/30, Hasaranga 3/58).