2nd ODI Preview, Death Bowling Takes Center Stage As Shikhar Dhawan's India Looks To Wrap Up ODI Series

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Tuesday, 20th July 2021

Guns from the future Ishan Kishan and Prithvi Shaw both had strong outings with the bat in the first ODI against Sri Lanka, and the Indian team management will be looking for more of the same as the Shikhar Dhawan-led side attempts to take a commanding lead in the three-match series on Tuesday. India got off to a solid start in the first ODI, with to Kishan's 59 and Shaw's 43, and the visitors won by seven wickets because to Shikhar Dhawan's composed 86-run effort. The Dhawan-led team was clinical in chasing 263 and there was no big rework required. Suryakumar Yadav, who came in to bat at number five, hit 31 off 20 balls with five boundaries, ensuring India cruised to victory with 80 balls to spare.

If one wants to search for batting flaws, it was certainly Manish Pandey, who did not look like his usual fluent self as he hit 26 off 40 balls.

For the first time since the 2019 World Cup match against England, Kuldeep Yadav and Yuzvendra Chahal played a match together.

Also Read: India thrash Sri Lanka by 7 wickets in the series opener, with Shikhar Dhawan and Ishan Kishan starring.

During the middle phase, both spinners took two wickets each and looked like their old selves, which bodes well for the squad if they can regain their confidence.

Death bowling is still an issue for this Indian team, and it's something coach Rahul Dravid wants his charges to work on.

Bhuvneshwar Kumar was unable to execute his yorkers at the tail end of the innings, allowing Sri Lanka's tailenders to push the team's total above the 260-run barrier.

In his nine overs, Bhuvneshwar gave up 63 runs. Bhuvneshwar hasn't looked like himself since returning from injury, and he hopes to regain his form in the remaining matches of the tour.

Krunal Pandya and Hardik Pandya both performed admirably with the bat. They both took one wicket each.

Hardik's bowling was a positive indicator, since he is still an important cog in the T20 World Cup machine.

Hardik may have only bowled five overs, but the fact that he has begun to bowl in the 50-over format is an encouraging indication.

Krunal finished his quota of 10 overs with only 26 runs conceded.

For Sri Lanka, it will be a case of pressing the reset button and beginning over, as the hosts' performance in the first game of the series left nothing to be desired.

The young Indian outfit looked in perfect control, despite their lack of experience.

The News Talkie Bureau

Source

NDTV