“Vandersay's magic spins puts Lanka on brink of series victory”
Sri Lanka leg spinner Jeffrey Vandersay produced a mesmerizing spell of leg spin bowling against India in the second ODI in Colombo to put Sri Lanka in touching distance of their first series win against India since 1997.
Chasing 240 for victory on a slow turning pitch, Indian top order looked in control with Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill looking solid. However, the introduction of Vandersay changed the complexion of the game completely. He dismissed Rohit caught behind trying to play an unconventional reverse sweep in his first over.
This opened the floodgates as he then removed the well set Gill caught at slip in his next over. He followed it up by trapping Virat Kohli and Shivam Dube lbw in quick succession. India lost 5 wickets for just 24 runs in the spell as they slumped to 147-6.
Vandersay finished with outstanding figures of 7-0-26-6 to skittle out India for 208 as Sri Lanka won the match by 32 runs. It was a virtuoso performance from the experienced leg spinner who has been in and out of the national side over the years.
Earlier, Sri Lankan batsmen showed discipline and patience against the Indian spinners. None of them scored big but four batsmen between 30-40 runs helped them post a competitive total of 240.
The series is now tilted in Sri Lanka's favor as they need just a draw in the final ODI on Wednesday to claim their first series win against India in 27 years. Jeffrey Vandersay's magical six wicket haul has given them the belief they can achieve this historic feat.
