The Eden Gardens did not witness a high-scoring match like Barsapara. The result, though, was no different with India sealing the series with a four-wicket win.
Kuldeep Yadav bamboozled the Sri Lankan batters to help India bundle out Sri Lanka for 215. K.L. Rahul’s sedate fifty and his 75-run association with Hardik Pandya for the fifth wicket meant India crossed the line in the 44th over.
The Lankan pacers put up an excellent display on Thursday and pegged India back to 86 for four. With no pressure of the scoreboard — and the dew starting to play a part in the outfield — Rahul and Hardik played risk-free cricket to put India on the verge of a win.
While Hardik chased a wide one from Chamika Karunaratne — similar to the one chased by captain Rohit Sharma early on — Rahul hung on and finished the game with Kuldeep for company.
Fitting finish
Kuldeep fittingly finished the game with a tennis-ball swat off Lahiru Kumara for a four. After all, he had virtually sealed the fate of the game with the ball.
When Kuldeep, who got a look-in only because Yuzvendra Chahal was ruled out due to a sore shoulder, was introduced into the attack in the 17th over, the islanders were in a dominant position.
At 99 for one, debutant Nuwanidu Fernando and Kusal Mendis had already put on 70 runs in 10 overs after Avishka Fernando played Mohammed Siraj onto his stumps in the PowerPlay.
It took Kuldeep just six balls to break the association. Mendis could not read the left-arm wrist-spinner’s googly and was plumb in front. Then on, it was a carnage for the next half hour as India earned five wickets for just 24 runs off 45 balls to leave Sri Lanka reeling at 126 for six from a comfortable 102 for one.
Dhananjaya de Silva misread his first ball in Axar Patel’s over to be bowled off his pads; captain Dasun Shanaka missed a sweep off Kuldeep to see his leg-stump being uprooted and Charith Asalanka misread a wrong ’un to offer a dolly to Kuldeep on his follow-through.
Stranded
In between, Nuwanidu was stranded in the middle of the pitch, thanks to Shubman Gill’s excellence in the field. Despite the lower-order showing a bit of resilience, the damage by the spinners was too much for Sri Lanka as it folded up for 215 with more than 10 overs remaining.
The premature closure of the innings meant that the host association was forced to postpone the laser show — originally planned during the innings break — till the end of the match. In the end, the majority of 50,000-plus Kolkatans stayed back to celebrate their team’s win, despite a stutter.
Scoreboard:
Sri Lanka Innings: Avishka Fernando b Siraj 20 Nuwanidu Fernando run out (Shubman Gill/Rahul) 50 Kusal Mendis lbw b Kuldeep Yadav 34 Dhananjaya de Silva b Axar 0 Charith Asalanka c and b Kuldeep Yadav 15 Dasun Shanaka b Kuldeep Yadav 2 Wanindu Hasaranga c Axar b Umran Malik 21 Dunith Wellalage c Axar b Siraj 32 Chamika Karunaratne c Axar b Umran Malik 17 Kasun Rajitha not out 17 Lahiru Kumara b Siraj 0
Extras: (LB-1, W-5, NB-1) 7
Total: (For 10 wkts, 39.4 Overs) 215
Fall of Wickets: 29-1, 102-2, 103-3, 118-4, 125-5, 126-6, 152-7, 177-8, 215-9, 215-10.
India bowling: Mohammed Shami 7-0-43-0, Mohammed Siraj 5.4-0-30-3, Hardik Pandya 5-0-26-0, Umran Malik 7-0-48-2, Kuldeep Yadav 10-0-51-3, Axar Patel 5-0-16-1.
India’s innings: Rohit Sharma c Kusal Mendis b C Karunaratne 17 Shubman Gill c Avishka Fernando b Lahiru Kumara 21 Virat Kohli b Lahiru Kumara 4 Shreyas Iyer lbw b Rajitha 28 KL Rahul not out 64 Hardik Pandya c Kusal Mendis b C Karunaratne 36 Axar Patelc C Karunaratne b Dhananjaya de Silva 21 Kuldeep Yadav not out 10
Extras: (lb 3, w 13, nb 2) 18
Total: (6 wickets, 43.2 overs) 219
Fall of Wickets: 33-1, 41-2, 62-3, 86-4, 161-5, 191-6
Sri Lanka bowling: Kasun Rajitha 9-0-46-1, Lahiru Kumara 9.2-0-64-2, Chamika Karunaratne 8-0-51-2, Wanindu Hasaranga 10-0-28-0, Dunith Wellalage 2-0-12-0, Dasun Shanaka 2-0-6-0, Dhananjaya de Silva 3-0-9-1.
Playing XIs:
Sri Lanka: Dasun Shanaka (c), Kusal Mendis (w), Avishka Fernando, Charith Asalanka, Dhananjaya de Silva, Nuwanidu Fernando, Wanindu Hasaranga, Chamika Karunaratne, Dunith Wellalage, Lahiru Kumara and Kasun Rajitha.
India: Rohit Sharma (c), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul (w), Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel, Mohammed Shami, Kuldeep Yadav, Umran Malik and Mohammed Siraj.
