When a full strength India boasting of superstars Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma, at the helm and in the height of his game, arrived in Sri Lanka for a 3-match ODI series in the wake of the host country having been humiliated 3-0 by a new look T20 side led by Sooryakumar Yadav following the retirement of Sharma from T20 cricket in the glee of having led India to the world cup in the short format recently, it looked a foregone conclusion of the outcome. The fierce manner in which the Indians had been playing their cricket left the world of Cricket to conclude that it would be a massacre of the innocents even before a ball had been bowled.
But that school of thought and Indian glee was to disintegrate largely before the wonder works of two relative unknowns in Dunith Wellalage and Jeffrey Vandersay who had been more or less cast to backseat second hand stuff by the national selectors. That one of the two Wellalage was a youngster, fresh in the early realms of his career aged 21 years, and Vandersay from the old mill of a 34-year old more or less at the tether of his career was a story by itself.
Came the curtain raiser there was young Dunith Wellalage to the fore of a virtual loner pulling Sri Lanka out of a sinking ship to an honourable tie by a scintillating top score Player of the Match 67.
Not that Wellalage was a stranger to the Indians. He had only an year ago claimed 4 wickets against them in la lost Asia Cup match back home. But that he was cast to a passenger back seat at the recent T20 World Cup defied logic.
Came the second ODI and there was.Jeffrey Vandersay doing the job for Sri Lanka from another ironic back seat call up only because strongman all-round leg-spin prodigy Wanindu Hasaranga was an injured non starter.
Vandersay rose like flowing old wine to reap havoc with a 6 for 33 haul to send India crashing to defeat by 32 runs.
The result had by now swung the tide Sri Lanka’s way as the two sides moved for the final decisive confrontation on Wednesday August 7 before a packed crowd of home fans as well as die hard Indian fans in the heart of Colombo’s R. Premadasa International Cricket Stadium.
India, for once we’re on the back foot.hsving significantly declined from glorious starts by the openers with Skipper Rohit Sharma’s bludgeoning starts having come to naught with superstar Virat Kohli falling cheaply in both games leg before wicket to tentative plodding forward to turning deliveries on a tricky slow batting surface.
Failure was to follow India once again as Dunith Wellalage ran through India for 138 within 26.1 overs chasing 249 in a 5-wicket wrecking for 27 runs in an astonishing spell of wrist spin that took him just 5.1 overs in that wonderment.
Sri Lanka had run up 247 off 50 overs on winning the toss on a Player of the Match gutsy innings of 96 by opening batsman Avidhka Fernando with one drop Kusal Mendis playing a superb sheet anchor 59 after Pathum Nissanka wiith 45 had set up the foundation in forging 72 runs for the first wicket. Fernando went on to maximise it further adding 89 for the second wicket with Mendis.
A special word for Kusal Mendis who as in the previous games cast aside his aggressive approach to keeping one end going to the very penultimate over when he departed.
Young Kamindu Mendis was another thumbs up performer with the bat on contributing to Sri Lanka’s overall series success. His unbeaten quick fire 23 in the wake of the match winning 40 in the previous game infused solidness manning the No 9 pinch hitting slot to raising his stocks as a tremendous all-round discovery savvy to both test Cricket as well as the one-day format following his magical twin test centuries not so long ago.
Lanka bring down Mighty India’ Underdogs Sri Lanka had literally overnight reversed fortunes from defeatist gloom to overflowing champagne euphoria. India had crashed from the might of world No. 1 team to a pall of gloom that had descended to shattering the glee of a victorious run.
