KL Rahul’s composed fifty after Mohammed Siraj and Kuldeep Yadav’s brilliance with the ball helped India beat Sri Lanka by four wickets in the second ODI to take an unassailable lead 2-0 in the three-match series on Thursday.
Rahul (64*), along with Hardik Pandya, had to dig deep following an early collapse of India’s top-order. The openers Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill started off the 216-run chase cautiously. However, just when the duo changed their gears, Sri Lanka got the much-needed breakthrough. Chamika Karunaratne got rid of captain Rohit, who had scored two fifty-plus scores in their previous matches. Lahiru Kumara joined the party as he dismissed Gill for 21 before bagging the prized wicket of Virat Kohli. The former India captain Kohli, who was flying high with back-to-back ODI hundreds, was bowled cheaply for four.
Shreyas Iyer (28) tried to see off the storm but could not stay in the crease for long. Pandya joined Rahul in the middle and the two formed a composed stand of 75 runs, ensuring India stayed alive in the match. Rahul and Pandya steadily built a partnership for the fifth wicket in an attempt to take India closer to the 200-run mark.
