India's batting line-up collapsed from 97/1 to 208 all-out in the chase of 241.
Chasing 241 to win, the visitors got off to a brilliant start thanks to captain Rohit Sharma’s blazing half-century at the top (64 off 44 balls). However, India’s batting line-up fell like a pack of cards after Rohit’s dismissal as they slumped from 97/1 to 147/6.
While all-rounder Akshar Patel tried to resurrect the innings with run-a-ball 44, he didn’t get ample support from the other end.
Jeffrey Vandersay was the wrecker-in-chief with the ball, claiming six wickets by conceding 33 runs in his allotted 10 overs. Skipper Charith Asalanka also returned with three scalps as Sri Lanka bundled out India for a paltry 208 in 42.2 overs.
After the game, Rohit Sharma expressed his disappointment over the batting collapse after a fabulous opening stand between him and Shubman Gill.
“When you lose a game, everything hurts. It's not just about those 10 overs. You have to play consistent cricket and we failed to do that today. Little disappointed but these things happen. You got to adapt what's in front of you,” Rohit said at the post-match presentation.
Talking about the promotion of Shivam Dube and Axar Patel in the batting order, the Indian captain added: “With left-right, we felt it'll be easier to rotate strike. Credit to Jeffrey, he got six wickets."
Reflecting on his explosive knock, Rohit said, “The reason I got 65 is because of the way I batted. When I am batting like that, there's a lot of risks taken. If you don't cross the line, you always feel disappointed. I don't want to compromise on my intent.”
In the end, Rohit Sharma admitted that they were not good enough and called for improvement in the batting during the middle overs.
“We understand nature of this surface, it gets really tough in the middle overs. You have to try to get as many as possible in the powerplay. We weren't good enough. Don't want to look too much into how we played. But there'll be talks about our batting in the middle overs,” he concluded.
With this defeat, India conceded 1-0 lead to Sri Lanka in the three-match ODI series. They will have to win the final ODI in Colombo on Wednesday (August 7) to avoid a series loss.
(Cricbuzz Inputs)