END OF OVER:50 | 11 Runs 2 Wkts | SL: 275/9 | RR: 5.50
- Chamika Karunaratne44 (33b)
- Kasun Rajitha1 (1b)
- Bhuvneshwar Kumar10-0-54-3
- Deepak Chahar8-0-53-2
7:17 pm Well, that first half of this second ODI resembled the first quite closely. A good start, that gave way to the Indian spinners getting the brakes on, before Karunaratne spanked the ball around the end to lift Sri Lanka to a decent total. However, if that theme is set to continue, then it could be a fun couple of hours ahead, with the likes of Prithvi Shaw, Ishan Kishan and Suryakumar Yadav set to bat. Strap yourselves in, for what should be a fun ride.
Prithvi: "Karunaratne seems to be heavily under utilized here. He looks like a decent batsman and need to face much more balls. He scored well against England too"
Saravanan Sivak: "SL should look to promote Karunaratne"
Venu: "To be frank this is very good total! Anything can happen in second innings"
Malli: "Chamira Karunaratne, the finisher, is the find for Srilanka this series. Both matches he ensured a good total for Srilanka"
SunilJoy: "Definitely Chamika Karunaratne deserve promotion higher up the order after seeing his performance in these two matches. He certainly knows to play according to the situation."
Here's Shiva J from the stats team: "He's in the team as a bowler but Chamika Karunaratne has shown that he is quite handy with the bat as well. Karunaratne has made 138 runs in five ODI innings, all batting at No.8. The only batters to have scored more runs than him in their first-five innings batting at No. 8 or lower at the beginning of their careers are West Indies' Andre Russell (147) and Denesh Ramdin (143)."
6.50pm It is another strong finish at the death via Karunaratne for Sri Lanka, and they've bettered their total from the last game by 13 runs. India will need to get the third-highest chase for a day-night ODI in Sri Lanka to win this. Sri Lanka were certainly more organised today, had much more of a plan at the start, and used a much better batting surface optimally with their opening stand. They improved on one front for sure - two fifties, more partnerships. But they did lose their way against spin again, particularly against Yuzvendra Chahal, who showed great control for India. Asalanka was the stand-out batter, holding that innings together in the middle and managing to do it at good pace. Bhvuneshwar looked like he wasn't at full bowling fitness, but he's made up with his experience for the most part. Three wickets for him bowling through the middle and end overs, and two for Chahar doing a similar role. A nice chase on our hands here, we'll be back for it soon.
PADLR Sandakan run out 0 (5m 1b 0x4 0x6) SR: 0.00
PVD Chameera c sub (D Padikkal) b Kumar 2 (11m 5b 0x4 0x6) SR: 40.00
END OF OVER:49 | 12 Runs | SL: 264/7 | RR: 5.38
- Chamika Karunaratne35 (30b)
- Dushmantha Chameera2 (4b)
- Deepak Chahar8-0-53-2
- Bhuvneshwar Kumar9-0-43-2
KK: "Have been following Asalanka since he played U19. Liked the composure he showed today. We have top order options, but not many middle order ones. So happy with what he's shown today."