Sri Lanka bowlers have failed to contain the Indian batters for the second time in the ongoing three-match series. With India captain Rohit Sharma (42) winning the toss and electing to bat first, his batters didn’t let go of an opportunity of making the most of batting-friendly conditions in the third ODI.
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Individual ODI centuries by former captain Virat Kohli (166*) and opening batter Shubman Gill (116) played a key role in India posting a commanding 390/5 in 50 overs. Both the right-handed batters shared a 110-ball 131-run partnership for the second wicket to leave the Sri Lankan bowlers clueless today.
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New-ball bowlers Kasun Rajitha and Lahiru Kumara did pick a couple of wickets each but their economy rate of more than 8 didn’t help Sri Lanka’s case in the first innings. All-rounder Chamika Karunaratne was the other wicket-taker but the others leaking a lot of runs all accumulated for the above mentioned gargantuan innings total.
Sri Lanka players injured during 3rd ODI in Thiruvananthapuram
Conceding in vicinity of 400 runs wasn’t the only negative point of the first innings for the visitors as they also witnessed a couple of their players injuring themselves in the process.
It all happened on the penultimate delivery of the 43rd over when Kohli pulled a Karunaratne delivery towards the square leg boundary. Sri Lanka batter Ashen Bandara and spinner Jeffrey Vandersay (0/59), two boundary riders, tried their best to stop the ball but were unsuccessful in doing so.
Apart from Kohli earning a boundary, what was even more concerning for Sri Lanka was the fact that the pair ended up colliding with each other. The subsequent scenes at the Greenfield International Stadium needed viewer discretion especially at first. A nasty collision saw both the players struggling with intense pain originally only to feel better with time.
Bandara and Vandersay, who appeared severely injured at first, were both stretchered off the ground. While both the cricketers are out of danger, Sri Lanka all-rounder Dunith Wellalage has been named as a concussion substitute for Vandersay. Bandara, on the other hand, hasn’t come out to bat in spite of Sri Lanka losing eight early wickets in a shambolic display of batting.
