Sri Lanka ties with India; match snatched away by spinners

COLOMBO: India had to settle for a tie in the first match of the ODI series against Sri Lanka. Chasing Sri Lanka's target of 231 runs, India were bowled out for 230 runs in 47.5 overs. India lost the remaining two wickets when they needed just one run to win. Barring captain Rohit Sharma, none of the batsmen could dominate the Lankan bowlers on the tough pitch.
Chasing a target of 231 runs, India got off to a good start by the openers. Captain Rohit Sharma 58(47) shone with a brilliant half-century. The team score reached 75 runs when Shubman Gill was out for 16(35) who struggled to find rhythm. India faltered when Rohit Sharma was trapped in front of the wicket by Wellalage and Sundar got out the same way. Score 87 for three. Later Shreyas Iyer 23(23) and Virat Kohli 24(32) raised the score.
India faltered again when Kohli and Iyer got out in successive overs. KL Rahul 31(43) and Axar Patel 33(57) combined for a score of 132 and 33(57). When it looked as though they would easily cruise to victory, Rahul lost his wicket with an unnecessary shot. When Axar got out in the next over, India saw defeat face to face. India was 20 runs away from victory when Kuldeep Yadav got out as the eighth batsman.

Shivam Dube was still standing as a threat to Sri Lanka. Joining Muhammad Siraj, who arrived in the tenth over, Dube slowly swung his bat towards the winning target. Finally, in the 48th over, when the score was tied, Dubey was caught in front of the wicket and got out. The player got out after scoring 25 runs in 24 balls. The match ended in a tie when Arshdeep Singh, who came as the batsman, was also dismissed. Asalanka and Hasaranga took three wickets each.