Rohit Sharma had a forgetful start to his career as captain as Team India suffered a disheartening loss against Sri Lanka in Dharamsala. Sri Lanka, thus drew first blood in the three-match ODI series.
Sri Lanka won the toss and elected to field on a Dharamsala wicket offering a lot of assistance to seamers. They had India tottering at 29 for 7 at one point with Suranga Lakmal picking up a career best of 4 for 13 and opening the floodgates of an Indian batting collapse.
MS Dhoni then digged in and scored a defiant 65 to take India’s score to 112. He was well supported by Kuldeep Yadav (19) as the duo added a 41 run stand which was crucial in taking India’s score past the 100 run mark.
Angelo Mathews returned with good figures with the ball for Sri Lanka as he too picked up a wicket and only gave away 8 runs in his five overs. Skipper Thisara Perera also chipped in with a wicket and the other pacer Nuwan Pradeep picking up two.
Sri Lanka then chased down the total inside 20 overs with Upul Tharanga scoring 49 at the top. Angelo Mathews (25*) and Niroshan Dickwell (26*) then ensured that Sri Lanka win the game comfortably. This was Sri Lanka’s fourth ODI win this year.
Brief Scores
Sri Lanka 114 for 3 (Tharanga 49) beat India 112 (Dhoni 65, Lakmal 4-13) by seven wickets