Yuzvendra Chahal and Bhuvneshwar Kumar picked three wickets apiece but Charith Asalanka (65) and Chamika Karunaratne (44*) played fighting knocks as Sri Lanka scored 275/9 in the allotted 50 overs in the second ODI against India at the R Premadasa Stadium on Tuesday.
Sri Lanka was in a spot of bother at 194/6 before Asalanka's gutsy fifty and Karunaratne's late cameo took the hosts over the 250-run mark. For India, Deepak Chahar backed Chahal and Bhuvneshwar as he scalped two wickets.
Opting to bat first, Sri Lanka began well as they scored 59 in the first 10 overs. Openers Minod Bhanuka (36) and Avishka Fernando (50) got Sri Lanka off to a solid start. However twin strikes from Yuzvendra Chahal in the 14th over put the hosts on the backfoot.
Chahal got the wickets of opener Bhanuka and Bhanuka Rajapakasa in back-to-back deliveries to put India in the driver's seat. Fernando steadied the innings as the hosts went past the hundred-run mark, but Bhuvneshwar sent him back as soon as the batsman completed his fifty.
Two overs later Deepak Chahar struck for India as Dhananjaya de Silva failed to convert his good start into a big score as Sri Lanka got reduced to 134/4. Every time Sri Lanka steadied the ship a wicket fell as Chahar and Chahal kept the length tight. Sri Lanka was on 194/6 in the 40th over when Charith Asalanka revived the hosts' innings.
Asalanka's fighting fifty kept Sri Lanka ticking the scoreboard as the hosts reached 244 before he got out. In the last two overs Sri Lanka scored 23 runs to reach 275 despite losing two wickets in the final six balls.
Brief Scores: Sri Lanka 275/9 (Charith Asalanka 65; Yuzvendra Chahal 3-50) vs India
( With inputs from ANI )
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