Colombo (Sri Lanka): Sri Lanka Skipper Charith Asalanka trapped last man Arshdeep Singh (0) in front of the wickets to deny India an outright win as the first ODI of the three-match series ended in a fascinating tie here on Friday.
Electing to bat at the R Premada Stadium, India restricted the hosts to a modest 230/8, but the chase was not a walk in the park for the Men in Blue. India started on an aggressive note as openers Rohit Sharma (58) and Shubman Gill (16) added 75 for the first wicket. It was Dunith Wellalage who broke the partnership by removing Gill, who was caught by Kusal Mendis.
Sri Lanka made a sensational comeback by taking wickets at regular intervals as India slipped to 189/6. Virat Kohli (24) and Shreyas Iyer (31) could not convert their starts while Washington Sundar, who was promoted to number 4, failed to make use of the opportunity and perished at just 5 after being trapped in front of wickets by Akila Dhananjaya (1/40).
KL Rahul (31), Axar Patel (33) and Shivam Dube (25) took the game deep but that was not enough. Shivam Dube was dismissed when India needed one run. It was skipper Asalanka who sent back Dube and on the next ball sent back Arshdeep as the crowd cheered for the home team.
Earlier, Dunith Wellalage's unbeaten 67 off 65 balls propelled the hosts to cross the 225-run mark. His knock was laced with seven boundaries and two maximums.
Opener Pathum Nissanka (56) also played his part to perfection but then suffered a middle-order collapse. Avishka Fernando (1), one-down Kusal Mendis (14), Sadeera Samarawcikrama (8) and Asalanka (14) fell in quick succession as Sri Lanka was teetering at 91/4.
But then Wellalage forced a recovery with the help of lower-order batters and gave something for his bowlers to defend. For India Arshdeep (2/47) and spinner Axar Patel (2/33) picked two wickets each.
Wellalage was adjudged as the Player of the Match. India skipper Rohit Sharma said, "The score was gettable and you had to bat well to get there. We batted well in patches. (There was) no consistent momentum. We had the upper hand, we lost a couple of wickets. With the KL (Rahul)-Axar partnership, we came back. (It was) little disappointing at the end."
The second game will be played at the same venue on August 4.
