SL vs IND: 2nd ODI Preview – India aim to continue their domination

Shikhar Dhawan

India romped to a comfortable victory against Sri Lanka on Sunday in the series opener. After the hosts elected to bat first, consistently falling wickets meant that Sri Lanka was unable to score a threatening total on the board.

They got themselves a good start, with openers adding 49 for the partnership, but once Yuzvendra Chahal struck to remove Avishka Fernando, the hosts failed to string another partnership until the late flourish of Chamika Karunaratne and Dushmantha Chameera.

Set for the win a 263-run target, India flew off in the chase courtesy Prithvi Shaw’s aggressive 43 off just 24, which was followed by Ishan Kishan’s sublime half-century on debut. For a brief passage after the latter’s dismissal, India’s scoring slowed for a while, with Manish Pandey taking his time and scoring 26 from 40, but chasing a modest target, the team had the license to take their time.

From the other end, skipper Shikhar Dhawan held his end up strongly and quietly reached to 86 by the end of the game. Alongside him was Suryakumar Yadav, another debutant, who scored a quick-fire 31 off 20 to ensure that India chased the target with a massive 80 balls left.

The second ODI of the series will be played at the same venue on July 20. While India would look to seal the series, Sri Lanka would be keen to show a better performance to take the game into a decider.

Team News

Sri Lanka

After an expensive outing in the first ODI, Sri Lanka might swap Isuru Udana with Lahiru Kumara.

Predicted XI: Avishka Fernando, Pathum Nissanka, Bhanuka Rajapaksha, Wanindu Hasaranga, Dhananjaya de Silva, Dasun Shanaka (c), Minod Bhanuka (wk), Isuru Uadana/Lahiru Kumara, Isuru Udana, Akila Dananjaya/Lakshan Sandakan, Dushmantha Chameera

India

India is unlikely to change the winning combination.

Predicted XI: Shikhar Dhawan (c), Prithvi Shaw, Suryakumar Yadav, Manish Pandey, Sanju Samson/Ishan Kishan (wk), Hardik Pandya, Krunal Pandya, Deepak Chahar/Navdeep Saini, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal

Match Info

Match: Sri Lanka vs India, 2nd ODI

Dates: July 20, 2021

Time: 03:00 PM IST, 09:30 AM GM

Venue: R Premadasa Stadium, Colombo