COLOMBO: India beat Sri Lanka by three wickets in the second One-day International to take an unassailable 2-0 lead in the three-match series after Suryakumar Yadav and Deepak Chahar guided the tourists home with maiden half-centuries on Tuesday (partly reported in Wednesday’s edition).

Chasing 276 for victory, India found themselves in trouble after they lost Prithvi Shaw, Ishan Kishan and skipper Shikhar Dhawan cheaply to leave the tourists struggling at 65-3.

Sri Lankan spinner Wanindu Hasaranga picked up three wickets but India’s tail wagged at the death to deny Sri Lanka victory, overhauling the target with five balls to spare.

Yadav rallied India before he was eventually dismissed for 53, trapped leg before by Lakshan Sandakan with 116 required to win.

Hasaranga also removed Krunal Pandya, who was looking dangerous with a handy knock of 35 before he was bowled but Chahar dug his heels in with an unbeaten 69, supported at the other end by Bhuvneshwar Kumar (19).

Earlier, a fighting 65 off 68 balls from Charith Asalanka propelled Sri Lanka to 275-9 in 50 overs.

Scores in brief:

SRI LANKA 275-9 in 50 overs (K.I.C. Asalanka 65, W.I.A. Fernando 50, C. Karunaratne 44 not out, M. Bhanuka 36, D.M. de Silva 32; Y.S. Chahal 3-50, B. Kumar 3-54, D.L. Chahar 2-53); INDIA 277-7 in 49.1 overs (D.L. Chahar 69 not out, S.A. Yadav 53, M.K. Pandey 37, K.H. Pandya 35, S. Dhawan 29; W. Hasaranga 3-37).

Published in Dawn, July 24th, 2021