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Thursday 6 November 2014

Angelo Mathews lifts Sri Lanka to 274 in the second ODI at Ahmedabad.....

Angelo Mathews played a captain's knock © Getty Images ( File Photo)
Angelo Mathews played a captain’s knock © Getty Images ( File Photo)

Nov 6, 2014
Sri Lanka achieved a total of 274 for eight in the second One-Day International (ODI) played against India at Ahmedabad on Thursday. Angelo Mathews who came out to bat at No. 5 stayed on to score 92 off 101 balls.
Sri Lanka didn’t had the desired start to their innings as opener Kusal Perera vanished only in the first over of the match. Perera was fed with a straight delivery which just swung at the last moment and caught Perera right in front of the wickets. Tillakaratne Dilshan and Kumar Sangakkara took Sri Lanka away from difficult position and started consolidating the innings. After nine overs Sri Lanka had reached just 35 runs but Dilshan stepped up the tempo as he fired four consecutive boundaries in the next over bowled by Ravichandran Ashwin. A total of 18 runs came from the 10th over which also took the score to 53 at the end of 10 overs. The local boy who was called in to bowl the next over did the trick right away. Akshar Patel removed Dilshan only on the third ball of his first over as Dilshan tried to cut a flatter arm ball but missed it totally. Mahela Jayawardena who arrived on the crease just moments ago was also dismissed as he casually flicked a good length delivery into the palms of Ambati Rayudu at deep mid wicket.
But, Sri Lankan innings got a kick from the 90-run partnership of Angelo Mathews and Kumar Sangakkara. It was a mix of calmness and aggression from both these batsmen as they hit occasional hits over the boundary ropes. The 100 came up in the 22nd over bowled Ravindra Jadeja. The spin bowling options were turning futile as both the batsmen managed to renovate the innings which once was on the verge of crashing. Kumar Sangakkara also achieved his 87th half-century in the 29th over of the match. Things turned sour for Sri Lanka after they took the power-play in the 32nd over . Sangakkara was treated with a lose full toss from Umesh Yadav but ended up hitting it straight to Shikhar Dhawan at long-on. The 36th over was disastrous for Sri Lanka, two new batsmen Seekkuge Prasanna and Ashan Priyanjan left for the pavilion. Prasanna was the first batsman to leave as he was caught in deep backward square leg while Priyanjan was run-out by an accurate Ambati Rayudu throw.
Sri Lanka innings which once looked promising to score around 300 ,were tottering at 179 for 6 after 36 overs. But, Dhammika Prasad and Mathews did well to build a solid 10th wicket partnership which helped Sri Lanka to add runs in the last few overs.Ishant Sharma was touch expensive as he leaked 27 runs in his last three overs he bowled.  Sri Lanka juiced out 69 runs from the last 10 overs and crossed the 270- run barrier.  In the innings break Sri Lankan will still feel confident to have reached a respectable total after few mid-innings hiccups.
Brief scores:
Sri Lanka 274 for 8 in 50 overs ( Angelo Mathews 92*, Kumar Sangakkara 61, Dhammika Prasad 30; Akshar Patel 2 for 39 ) vs India.

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