Sri Lanka vs India, 1st ODI, Dambulla: 5 Talking Points

With the heavy defeat in the Test Series, India took on hosts Sri Lanka in colored clothing at Dambulla for the First ODI, to embark a five match series. Just like the whitewash in the whites, it was the Indian team which came out victorious with all round performance for which the Lankan Lions had no answer to.

All the bowlers chipped in with important wickets at important times after Virat Kohli won the toss and elected to field first. The home side could only manage a total of 216 as India opened their account in the series with a massive win by 9 wickets and almost 21 overs to spare. Shikhar Dhawan was adjudged as the man of the match for his exemplary knock.

1. Sri Lankan Collapse

The home side at one point of time was cruising at 139-1, with Niroshan Dickwella and Kusal Mendis making run making look easy. One projected a score of over 325 at one stage with 25 overs to go. Dickwella, especially, was feasting on the spells from Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Hardik Pandya, and Chahal.

But it all changed after the wicket of Dickwella, as India bundled out Lanka in the next 18 overs after adding only 77 more to the total. None of the batsmen after Matthews, who was the lone man standing till the end, could manage even manage a double digit score. As a result, the Lankans could only manage a target of 217 runs in front of the celebrated Indian batting line up.