Sri Lanka 139-1(Upul Tharanga 59*, Tillakaratne Dilshan 50, Ravichandran Ashwin 1-18) beat India 138 (Gautam Gambhir 65, Ravichandran Ashwin 21, Angelo Mathews 3-14, Thisara Perera 3-19) by 9 wickets.
The strong batting line up of India was exposed by the quality fast bowling of Sri Lanka as the latter won the 2nd ODI easily and levelled the series at 1-1.
India was bowled out for 138 runs in 33.3 overs and Sri Lanka achieved the target by smashing 139 runs with 30.1 overs to spare.
Thisara Perera (Sri Lanka) was declared ‘Player of the match’ since he removed the top order of India and grasped three important wickets.
The second One Day International of the five match series was played on Tuesday, July 24, 2012, at Mahinda Rajapaksa International Stadium, Sooriyawewa, Hambantota.
Earlier, Mahendra Singh Dhoni, the Captain of India, won the toss and opted to bat first. The innings was opened by Gautam Gambhir and Virender Sehwag in an attacking mode as they collected 16 runs in the second over with a couple of fours from the latter. They reached 31 after three overs when Sehwag was caught and bowled by Thisara Perera for 15 runs.
The middle order batting of the Blue Shirts fumbled and they were reeling at 4-41 in 7.4 overs. The three batsmen who went back to the pavilion were the centurion in the first ODI, Virat Kohli, for one run, Rohit Sharma without opening his account and Suresh Raina for one run.
MS Dhoni was dropped by Angelo Mathews off Thisara Perera on the last ball of the eighth over for a nought. Gambhir secured his end as the two batsmen took the score to 60 in 14 overs. Dhoni was caught behind by the wicketkeeper Kumar Sangakkara off Mathews for 11 and Irfan Pathan departed as the total reached 79 runs.
Ravichandran Ashwin came in next at a critical situation and tried to accelerate the run rate with a few boundaries. He shared a 28 runs partnership with Gambhir for the seventh wicket in 4.1 overs. Ashwin was unluckily run out for 21 from 15 balls with 3 fours as Gautam Gambhir achieved his fifty in the 27th over.
Gambhir became the last victim after contributing 65 runs off 96 balls with 4 fours as Indian innings was folded back for 138 runs with 16.3 overs to spare.
Thisara Perera and Angelo Mathews were the main destructors with three wickets each, Lasith Malinga held two and Rangana Herath claimed one wicket.
Upul Tharanga and Tillakaratne Dilshan initiated the innings for the Islanders in a calculated way. Dilshan got a life when he was dropped by Virender Sehwag off Irfan Pathan when he had scored just one run. The duo kept the score board moving as Tharanga got three fours in the next three overs. Dilshan opened up in the 9th over and scored 13 runs with two fours and added eight in the following over.
The Blue Shirts were unable to control the run rate and the first hundred of the innings was attained in the 13th over. Dilshan completed his fifty in the 16th over with two sweetly timed fours but was caught behind by MS Dhoni off Ravichandran Ashwin for 50 from 49 balls with 5 fours.
The first wicket fell at 119 runs as Dinesh Chandimal took guards in the centre. Upul Tharanga got his fifty in the 18th over with two boundaries and Chandimal hit the winning four on the fifth ball of the 20th over. Tharanga remained unbeaten for 59 off 60 deliveries with the assistance of 8 fours as Sri Lanka thrashed 139 runs with 9 wickets in hand.
The five match series is levelled at 1-1 and the third ODI will be played on July 28, 2012, at R Premadasa Stadium, Colombo.
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