Asalanka stars at the death as Sri Lanka draw with India

Sri Lanka held India to a draw in a thrilling finale to the first ODI of their series on Friday.

Charith Asalanka was the hero for Sri Lanka in Colombo, taking two wickets in the space of two balls to bowl India out for 230.

Pathum Nissanka (56) and Dunith Wellalage (67) led the way for Sri Lanka with the bat, propelling them to 230-8 from their 50 overs, with the pair plundering 18 boundaries between them.

India looked well set for the first 12 overs, until the dismissal of Shubman Gill (16) kick-started a mini-capitulation, with captain Rohit Sharma (58), Washington Sundar (five), Virat Kohli (24) and Shreyas Iyer (23) following in quick succession.

KL Rahul and Axar Patel appeared to have steadied the ship, but Wanindu Hasaranga (3-58) and Asalanka (3-30) struck in the space of seven deliveries to drag Sri Lanka back into it.

And the day ultimately belonged to Asalanka who, after being hit for four by Shivam Dube (25) in the 48th over, hit back with a pair of LBWs to leave the tourists stunned.

Data Debrief: India’s dominance ended

India had won each of their last six ODIs against Sri Lanka, their joint-longest winning streak against them in the history of the format (along with a run between July 1998 and May 1999), but for the first time since a loss in Colombo in July 2021, they failed to get the job done.

This match did see the two form teams in ODIs take each other on. India (27) and Sri Lanka (22) have won more 50-over games than any other teams since the start of 2023. (Sportsmax)