Hasaranga, Asalanka shine with three-fers in IND-SL tied ODI
What's the story
The opening ODI between India and Sri Lanka, which was an absolute nail-biter, resulted in a tie.
The Lankans were trailing way behind as India were 75/0 while chasing 231 at the R.Premadasa Stadium in Colombo.
However, the SL spinners showcased their prowess as India got folded for 230.
Skipper Charith Asalanka and Wanindu Hasaranga claimed three wickets apiece.
Here are their stats.
Hasaranga's spell
Hasaranga makes the ball talk in middle overs
Hasaranga trapped Virat Kohli (24) to open his account.
He then broke a 57-run stand between Axar Patel (33) and KL Rahul (31) by dismissing the latter.
Kuldeep Yadav (2) became his final victim as India lost their eighth wicket.
Earlier, left-arm spinner Dunith Wellalage dismissed both openers Rohit Sharma (58) and Shubman Gill (16) in quick intervals after they added 75 runs.
Asalanka's brilliance
A captain's spell from Asalanka
Asalanka trapped the well-set Axar to get his first wicket.
However, Shivam Dube's 25-run knock meant the scores were leveled and India had two wickets in hand.
Asalanka then dismissed Dube and Arshdeep Singh on successive deliveries and the game got tied. India finished at 230/10 (47.5 overs).
Feat
50 ODI wickets at home for Hasaranga
Hasaranga finished with 3/58 in 10 overs.
With this spell, the leg-spinner has raced to 87 wickets across 55 games at an economy of 5.12. He now has seven wickets in nine matches against India (ER: 5.28).
Playing his 27th match at home, he has completed 50 (now 51) wickets. His economy in this regard reads 5.05.
Stats
50 List A wickets for Asalanka
Asalanka finished with 3/30 in 8.5 overs. Playing his 60th ODI game, the off-spinner now has eight scalps at an economy of 4.74.
Seven of his scalps have come against India as he returned with 4/18 when these two sides met in the 2023 Asia Cup.
Meanwhile, Asalanka has also completed 50 wickets in List A cricket (now 52).
Summary
Summary of SL's innings
Earlier, SL finished at 230/8 while batting first.
While Pathum Nissanka (56) scored a brilliant fifty at the top, four of SL's other top-five batters couldn't even touch the 15-run mark.
Wellalage, who scored 67*, arrived with the scorecard reading 101/5.
He added 41 runs with Janith Liyanage (20) before being involved in brief stands with Hasaranga (24) and Akila Dananjaya (17).