Pathum Nissanka continued his fine run of form by hitting 56 off 75 balls, while Dunith Wellalage struck a superb 67 not out at the back-end as the duo carried Sri Lanka to a competitive 230/8 against India in the ODI series opener at the R. Premadasa Stadium here on Friday.

On a pitch that aided spinners, Sri Lanka were in trouble at 101/5, and it seemed they would suffer another batting collapse. But with batting becoming easier against the old ball, Wellalage stepped up to hit seven fours and two sixes in his unbeaten 67 off 65 balls, where he mixed smartness with solid cricketing shots. He also shared three crucial partnerships of 41, 36 and 46 with Janith Liyanage, Wanindu Hasaranga and Akila Dananjaya respectively to give Sri Lanka a fighting total.

For India, Axar Patel and Arshdeep Singh took two wickets each, while Mohammed Siraj, Kuldeep Yadav, Shivam Dube and Washington Sundar claimed a wicket apiece.

Siraj got India the first breakthrough when Avishka Fernando looked to flick but miscued and the leading edge was caught by the third man. Nissanka carried on from where he left in T20Is -– flicking and driving Arshdeep for boundaries, before cracking a cut off Siraj to collect another four. After being dropped by Siraj in the eighth over, Nissanka rocked back to pull Axar for a boundary. But he began losing partners from the other end as Dube trapped Kusal Mendis lbw with a length ball which straightened in after pitching.

Mendis went for the review, but replays showed the ball hitting off and middle stump, giving Dube a maiden ODI wicket in his first game in the format since 2019. Sadeera Samawickrama never looked comfortable and chipped a drive straight to short cover off Axar, followed by a scratchy Charith Asalanka giving a simple catch to slip off Kuldeep.

Amidst the wobble, Nissanka brought up his fifty in 67 balls but was soon trapped lbw on 56 by Washington who got a length ball to turn sharply and beat his inside edge. Nissanka took a review, but replays showed the ball would’ve clipped leg stump, meaning the original decision stayed.

Wellalage and Liyanage hit five boundaries between themselves in a handy 41-run stand for the sixth wicket, before the latter went for a big hoick off a turning away delivery from Axar and saw his outside edge being caught by slip. Interestingly, the replays showed no outside edge, which implied that Liyanage wrongly walked off.

Hasaranga provided some entertainment by walloping two sixes and a four in a knock of 24, before slicing straight to backward point off Arshdeep. Wellalage continued to be solid by glancing, punching and heaving to get his boundaries and reach his maiden ODI fifty in 59 balls.

Finding support through Dananjaya’s two boundaries, Wellalage ramped and pulled Siraj for four and six respectively in the 49th over, before moving leg-side to guide a yorker from Arshdeep in the gap between backward point and short third man for four more in the final over to take Sri Lanka to exactly 230.

Brief scores:

Sri Lanka 230/8 in 50 overs (Dunith Wellalage 67 not out, Pathum Nissanka 56; Axar Patel 2-33, Arshdeep Singh 2-46) against India