Tuesday 21st Jan, 2025
India face a struggling Sri Lankan cricket team in the 2nd ODI in Pallekele today. After losing the first ODI by nine wickets, the home team will have its task cut out to prevent another mismatch. Hardik Pandya and Yuzvendra Chahal have struck for India after Virat Kohli opted to bowl. Catch live cricket score of India vs Sri Lanka here
India will hope to continue their relentless run in the ongoing series in Sri Lanka when Virat Kohli’s men clash with the below-par islanders in Pallekele today. India lead the five-match ODI cricket series 1-0. In their only ODI in Pallekele, India had beaten Sri Lanka by 20 runs on August 20, 2012. Virat Kohli won the toss and opted to bowl. The hosts got off to a good start before Jasprit Bumrah and Yuzvendra Chahal struck in quick succession. Catch live cricket score of India vs Sri Lanka, 2nd ODI here. (LIVE SCORES)(LIVE STREAMING INFO)
16:50 hrs IST: Good news. Hardik Pandya about to come back on the field.
16:47 hrs IST: FOUR! Too short from Bhuvneshwar and Siriwardana slams it to deep square leg boundary.
16:45 hrs IST: Dot ball to finish off. Sri Lanka are 133/5 after 32 overs.
16:43 hrs IST: FOUR! Short delivery from Bumrah, Kapugedera gets into position early and pulls it well in the gap between deep square leg and deep mid-wicket boundary.
16:40 hrs IST: Great over from Bumrah. Just two off it. Sri Lanka are 125/5 after 30 overs.
16:36 hrs IST:Jasprit Bumrah comes in for his second spell.
16:34 hrs IST: Could well turn out to be another low-scoring affair. Indians have been excellent so far.
16:32 hrs IST: WICKET! Axar Patel strikes, removes Angelo Mathews for 20(41).
16:29 hrs IST: Pandya is off the field! He has some issues in the ankle! Kedar Jadhav has taken over now. SL 120/4 after 28 overs
16:26 hrs IST: FOUR! Finally! Mathews breaks the shackles with a nice-hit through mid-wicket off Pandya.
16:22 hrs IST: Fifteen balls since the last boundary. Sri Lanka 114/4 after 27 overs.
16:17 hrs IST: Sri Lanka are 107/4 at the halfway mark. Mathews 12*, Siriwardana 6*
16:14 hrs IST: Malinda Siriwardana is in at No. 6. Sri Lanka 101/4 after 24 overs.
16:12 hrs IST: WICKET! This had to happen. Mendis never looked comfortable today. Second wicket for Chahal.
STAT ATTACK – Virat Kohli has averaged 94.3 across his 24 ODI innings since 2016.
16:05 hrs IST: Only six runs in the last two overs. Sri Lanka need some big hits here. They are 96/3 after 22 overs.
16:00 hrs IST: Single of the last ball for Mathews. Sri Lanka are 90/3 after 20 overs.
15:58 hrs IST: FOUR! Too full from Pandya and Mathews dispatches it straight past the non-striker’s end.
15:55 hrs IST: Tidy over from Axar. Just a run off it. Sri Lanka are 85/3 after 19 overs.
15:53 hrs IST: Axar Patel comes into the attack. He picked up three wickets in the last game.
15:51 hrs IST: Twenty balls since the last boundary. Sri Lanka are 84/3 after 18 overs.
15:47 hrs IST: Only three runs off the over. Mathews holds the key here. Sri Lanka are 83/3 after 17 overs.
15:44 hrs IST: Angelo Mathews now
15:42 hrs IST: WICKET! That’s a big one. Pandya gets Tharanga. Sri Lanka in deep trouble. Need a special innings from someone to avoid another collapse.
15:37 hrs IST: Two boundaries for Tharanga. Sri Lanka need a big stand here.
15:34 hrs IST: Sri Lanka skipper Upul Tharanga is in at No. 4
15:33 hrs IST: WICKET! 99th stumping for MS Dhoni in ODIs. Chahal joins the party. Both SL openers back in the hut.
15:31 hrs IST: Expensive over from Pandya, 10 off it. Sri Lanka are 70/1 after 14 overs.
15:28 hrs IST: FOUR! Lucky! A perfect length delivery from Pandya, Mendis plays it with soft hands to third man boundary. No slip in place.
15:26 hrs IST: Chahal right on the money again. Sri Lanka finding it tough to hit over the ropes
15:23 hrs IST: Slower deliveries hold the key for India here. Another over without a boundary. Sri Lanka are 59/1 after 12 overs.
15:20 hrs IST: Hardik Pandya replaces Jasprit Bumrah.
15:19 hrs IST: Good over from Chahal. No boundaries in the last two overs. Sri Lanka are 56/1 after 11 overs.
15:17 hrs IST: Here comes the first change in bowling – Yuzvendra Chahal.
15:15 hrs IST: Another maiden over from Bumrah. No margin for error. Sri Lanka are 52/1 after 10 overs.
15:12 hrs IST: FOUR! Costly over from Bhuvneshwar, 11 runs off it. Gunathilaka moves to 14. Sri Lanka are 52/1 after 9 overs.
15:11 hrs IST: FOUR! Poor delivery from Bhuvneshwar. Straying down leg and Gunathilaka works it past the fielder at short fine leg.
15:09 hrs IST: Mendis off the mark. Helps a length delivery through cover point for a single.
15:06 hrs IST: Kusal Mendis is the next man in
15:04 hrs IST: OUT! Just the wicket India wanted. Bumrah gets rid of the dangerous Dickwella.
15:01 hrs IST: Decent over from Bhuvneshwar despite the boundary. Sri Lanka 40/0 after 7 overs.
14:58 hrs IST: FOUR! Back of a length delivery from Bhuvneshwar and Dickwella punches it in the gap between cover and cover point. Moves into 30s
14:55 hrs IST: Dickwella lifts a Bumrah delivery towards the leg side for a maximum. SL 36/0 after 6 overs.
14:51 hrs IST: Dot ball to finish off. Sri Lanka are 28/0 after 5 overs. Dickwella 20*, Gunathilaka 8*
14:49 hrs IST: Brilliant running between the wickets from Dickwella and Gunathilaka. Good old method of putting the opposition under pressure.
14:48 hrs IST: Bhuvneshwar Kumar to continue
14:47 hrs IST: And Bumrah switches to slower ones. Only two singles off the next four balls. Sri Lanka are 25/0 after 4 overs.
14:44 hrs IST: Dickwella on fire! 10 off the first two balls off Bumrah. Just the kind of start Sri Lanka would have wanted.
14:42 hrs IST:FOUR! Another full delivery from Bhuvneshwar and Gunathilaka manages to hit past the mid-off fielder. Sri Lanka 13/0 after 3 overs.
14:39 hrs IST: FOUR! Fuller delivery from Bhuvneshwar and Dickwella lifts it over the mid-on fielder for his first boundary.
14:38 hrs IST: Maiden over from Bumrah. Slight movement for him. Sri Lanka 2/0 after 2 overs.
14:35 hrs IST: Surprise! No Hardik Pandya. Jasprit Bumrah comes into the attack. He took two wickets in the Dambulla ODI.
14:34 hrs IST: Tidy start from Bhuvneshwar but not much swing for him. Sri Lanka 2/0 after first over.
14:32 hrs IST: Gunathilaka also off the mark. Works it towards short cover for a quick single.
14:31 hrs IST: First runs of the day for Dickwella. Length ball from Bhuvneshwar, the left-hander gets an inside edge past the stumps.
14:29 hrs IST: It’s time for live action. Niroshan Dickwella to take strike. Bhuvneshwar Kumar to start the proceedings for India.
14:20 hrs IST: Anything around 320 would be a good score for the hosts. For India, it would just be about sticking to their lengths and not trying too much.
14:10 hrs IST: “There’s not much grass on the wicket, as I see it, so the talks of a little seam, or that the pitch is mostly impartial to bat and ball, can take a back seat.” – Ajay Jadej
14:05 hrs IST: Here are the playing XI of both teams –
India: Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan, Virat Kohli(c), Lokesh Rahul, MS Dhoni(wk), Kedar Jadhav, Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Jasprit Bumrah, Yuzvendra Chahal
Sri Lanka: Niroshan Dickwella(wk), Danushka Gunathilaka, Kusal Mendis, Upul Tharanga(c), Angelo Mathews, Chamara Kapugedera, Milinda Siriwardana, Akila Dananjaya, Lasith Malinga, Vishwa Fernando, Dushmantha Chameera
14:01 hrs IST: India have won the toss and have opted to bowl.
13:46 hrs IST: Toss in a short while
13:38 hrs IST: What goes into the making of Virat Kohli’s well sculpt body? Read here
13:31 hrs IST: Having a bad day or a bad game is one thing but when a top team starts losing to lower-ranked sides, and its batsmen and bowlers show no inclination to fight as seen in the India series, something is seriously wrong.
13:30 hrs IST: The current state of Sri Lankan cricket is such that it won’t be surprising if experts are dismissive.
13:21 hrs IST: Mahendra Singh Dhoni is 57 away from going 4th in the list of leading ODI run-scorers for India (surpassing Mohammad Azharuddin).
12:55 PM IST: India will back themselves to take a 2-0 lead in the ODI series, having recorded their biggest win over Sri Lanka in the third and final Test match in Pallekele last week. India won by an innings and inside three days.
Sri Lanka are in total chaos. Their inability to score runs and take wickets have gone from bad to worse. The Sri Lankans lost the Test series 3-0 and were expected to match India in the limited overs version. But the heavy defeat in the first ODI in Dambulla exposed more than just poor performance in the hosts
Virat Kohli open to transition talk with Sri Lanka, but only after series
Virender Sehwag to clash vs Shahid Afridi in first-ever Ten10 cricket in UAE
The Lankans are in turmoil. Their coach Nic Pothas has revealed that players are confused because “there are too many cooks” in the dressing room. Former skipper Mahela Jayawardene has said that the players have been gripped by the “fear of losing.” So the odds are heavily stacked against the home team
How Sri Lanka coach was bullied by cricket officials ahead of 2nd ODI vs India
Lasith Malinga plagued by Sri Lanka’s dropped catches syndrome in India series
It’s time the Lankans redeemed themselves. Sri Lanka could seal direct qualification for the ICC Cricket World Cup 2019 and for that the 1996 world champions will have to win at least two matches to secure a place in the pinnacle 50-over competition by staving off the challenge from the West Indies. The cut-off date for direct qualification is September 30.