Cricket: India humbled in just 54 overs

Sri Lanka race to 9-wicket win in 2nd ODI.

HAMBANTOTA:

Sri Lanka thrashed India by nine wickets in the second One-Day International (ODI) to level the five-match series 1-1.

Upul Tharanga (59*) and Tillakaratne Dilshan (50) added 119 for the opening wicket as Sri Lanka raced past the modest 139-run target with more than 30 overs to spare.

Opener Gautam Gambhir earlier top-scored for India with 65 while pacemen Thisara Perera and Angelo Mathews bagged three wickets for Sri Lanka.

"I’m very happy with my performance,” said Perera. “I have to thank my teammates. My priority is always to bowl well and try to give my best out there."

Indian skipper Dhoni rued his team’s lack of ability to put on partnerships in the match as they kept losing wickets at regular intervals, unable to drill home the momentum from the opening-ODI win.

"We lost too many wickets too quickly,” said Dhoni. “After Virat Kohli fell, we lost too many. We’re very disappointed with our performance. We need to learn from our experiences and not think too much about these defeats.”

Mahela Jayawardene, meanwhile, hailed his team’s comeback saying he was confident they would be able to bounce back after the first ODI defeat.

"It's funny what two days does to you,” said the Sri Lankan skipper. “We have shown that we can bounce back.”

Published in The Express Tribune, July 25^th, 2012.