Rahul’s unbeaten 64 leads India to ODI series win against Sri Lanka

KOLKATA: India recovered from a precarious 86-4 to beat Sri Lanka by four wickets and take the series in the second one-day international on Thursday. Lokesh Rahul led India with an unbeaten 64 after facing 103 balls. Kuldeep Yadav hit the winning boundary in the 44th over to give India 219-6 in reply to Sri Lanka’s 215 all out. “We thought it was a 280-300 wicket. But our bowlers did well to keep them to under 220,” Rahul said. “They put up a good fight and got breakthroughs. It wasn’t a wicket impossible to bat on, and we always try to find a way to win. Batting at No. 5 has helped me understand my game better.”

India has an unassailable 2-0 lead with the last ODI scheduled for Sunday at Thiruvananthapuram. Earlier, Yadav picked 3-51 to help bowl out Sri Lanka – 102-1 at one point – with 10.2 overs to spare. Sri Lanka debutant Nuwanidu Fernando opened with a sedate maiden half-century before enduring a careless runout. He scored 50 off 63 balls.

Fernando put on 73 runs for the second wicket with Kusal Mendis (34). But when Mendis was trapped by Yadav in the 17th over, Sri Lanka collapsed. Yadav also dismissed Charitha Asalanka (15) and bowled Dasun Shanaka (2) as Sri Lanka fell from 102-1 to 126-6 in 7.2 overs. Sri Lanka managed to cross 200 only thanks to Dunith Wellalage’s 32 off 34 balls. India made a horrible start to the chase when Sri Lanka’s pacers exploited the dewy conditions.

Rohit Sharma was caught behind for 17. Shubman Gill was out for 21 to Lahiru Kumara, who also bowled Virat Kohli for 4. India was down to 62-3 and it became 86-4 when Shreyas Iyer (28) was out lbw to Kasun Rajitha. Rahul then built a partnership with Hardik Pandya (36) worth 75 runs for the fifth wicket. Despite Pandya’s dismissal, Rahul continued to hold the innings together, reaching his 11th half-century off 93 balls, including six fours. Axar Patel added 21 off 21 balls to accelerate India’s successful chase.