SL v IND, Second ODI: CT Player of the match - Akila Dananjaya

When a spinner gets going and keeps rattling the stumps, even a lackluster game turns tantalizing. That’s exactly what happened in the second ODI between India and Sri Lanka, which looked a fairly one sided encounter for a long period of time. But a sensational spell from the youngster Akila Dananjaya turned the game on its head and Sri Lanka almost registered a mind-boggling victory.

After the target was reduced to 231 in 47 overs by D/L Method, the Indian openers made a mockery of the Lankan fast bowlers. Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan kept spanking boundaries on will and the duo registered a 100 stand inside 16 overs. With the scoring rate well above 6 an over, the visitors were looking in a strong position to annihilate the Lankans.

A spell of a lifetime

The scoreboard read 102/0 after 15 overs and Sri Lanka looked completely out of the game. In the 16th over, Dhawan chipped the first ball over long on for a six and took a single off the next ball. What followed was something flabbergasting and absolutely remarkable as Dananjaya’s ball did the talking and Indian batters had no place to hide.

Rohit Sharma was the first scalp of the day, who attempted a sweep and was rapped on the pads. The Umpire raised his finger and an unhappy Rohit reviewed the decision, only to get an official confirmation that he was gone. Siriwardana then joined the party and took the prized wicket of Shikhar Dhawan in the next over.

The balance shifted completely into Sri Lanka’s favor in the 18th over as Dananjaya started breathing fire. The 23-year-old castled Kedar Jadhav’s stumps off the first ball and gave a mini heart-attack to the Indian fans by dismissing skipper Virat Kohli in the same over with an absolutely brilliant googly. To add insult to injury, he picked up his 3rd wicket in that over as KL Rahul too failed to pick his googly and the ball knocked his bails.

The commentators were going nuts, so were the crowd as the Indian lineup collapsed quite dramatically in a span of minutes. In his next over, Hardik Pandya tried to dance down the ground and break the shackles but eventually was stumped by the keeper. He had completed his five-fer and all these five wickets came in a span of 13 deliveries.

Axar Patel was the next victim of this onslaught as he was adjudged LBW in Dananjaya’s 6th over. With India tottering at 131/7, a stunning victory was on cards at Pallekele. But Sri Lanka failed to capitalize on the pressure they exerted and offered easy singles to Bhuvneshwar Kumar and MS Dhoni. The duo collected every run carefully and added a terrific 100 run stand to help India complete one of the greatest escapes of all time.

Dananjaya registered career-best figures of 6/54, but that wasn’t enough to end up on the winning side. Bhuvneshwar Kumar showed unbelievable grit and determination to score runs and he made a strong case for the player of the match. But Dananjaya’s spell of bowling was so remarkable that it was impossible to look beyond it and hence, he’s the CT Player of the match.