Rohit Sharma’s 1st assignment as captain of India did not materialize as he would have hoped for. The visitors chased down a paltry total of 112 with 176 balls to spare- most against India in India in terms of balls to spare.
Indians were dented in the first powerplay being reduced to 11/3 on the back of a probing bowling display by Suranga Lakmal and Angelo Mathews who finally rolled his arm over after a long hiatus.
Lankan’s pace battery wreaked havoc by beating the inside and outside edges of the bat on numerous occasions and did not give away freebies to let the Indians claw their way back into the game.
Nuwan Pradeep too joined the party by dismissing the debutant Shreyas Iyer and all-rounder, Hardik Pandya. Into 100 balls in the Indian innings and the hosts were tottering at 29/7 with a high possibility of registering their lowest ever total in ODI’s.
However, MS Dhoni stood tall and batted efficiently with the tail to take the score past 100. He was the highest scorer of the match (65) with two sixes and ten fours and was eventually scalped by incumbent SL skipper Thisara Perera.
In reply, Upul Tharanga, Mathews and Niroshan Dickwella made a mockery of the chase and ended a 12-match losing streak. Sri Lanka would be buoyed by this comprehensive performance but should be wary of a strong comeback from Team India come the 2nd ODI at PCA stadium, Mohali.
Below are few reactions from the Twitterati:
DRS is called Dhoni Review System.😀#INDvSL pic.twitter.com/N4tAee35hi
— RVCJ Media (@RVCJ_FB) December 10, 2017
Pic 1:- how MS DHONI look.
Pic 2:- how actually M S Dhoni is..Hats off to #thala #indiavssrilanka #INDvSL #Thala pic.twitter.com/Z10g0nxuPe
— **SUPERSTAR* (@Rohitbhandare2) December 10, 2017
This is the Lowest score for India since 2000 in the first ten overs – 11 for 3 #INDvSL
— Mikkhail Vaswani (@MikkhailVaswani) December 10, 2017
https://twitter.com/Sassy_Soul_/status/939750859260301314
Virat after watching 1st 10 overs of 1st ODI #INDvSL
" Shanti se shadi bhi nhi karne denge yeh log.. -_- "
— Chinmoy Sharma (@imChinmoy18) December 10, 2017
When Virat Kohli in Italy hears about India’s situation right now #IndvsSL pic.twitter.com/NZGzhQqXAD
— Naveen (@ImNsamy) December 10, 2017
When was the last time you heard of India 10 for 2 in 10 overs? #INDvSL
— Mikkhail Vaswani (@MikkhailVaswani) December 10, 2017
https://twitter.com/Sassy_Soul_/status/939742406685032448
RECORD:#India's worst defeat ever at home in terms of balls remaining, #SriLanka beat India with in 20.4 overs with 176 balls remaining #indiavssrilanka #INDvsSL dhoni #history
— Kamal Faridi (@KamalFaridi) December 10, 2017
Virat Kohli Watching Team India's Scorecard. #IndvSL #IndvsSL pic.twitter.com/opBI01YALe
— Sir Jadeja fan (@SirJadeja) December 10, 2017
https://twitter.com/ChhilGayeNaina/status/939759579084161024
India's BIGGEST DEFEATS in ODI cricket in terms of balls remaining:
209 balls vs SL, 2010 (THISARA PERERA man of the match – 5/28)
181 balls vs SL, 2012 (THISARA PERERA man of the match – 3/19)
176 balls vs SL, 2017 (THISARA PERERA's 1st ODI as captain)#INDvSL— Sampath Bandarupalli (@SampathStats) December 10, 2017
Anushka Sharma : I can't live without you.
Virat: Me too.
Team India: Ditto.#INDvsSL
— Saket (@sourabh_saket) December 10, 2017
Well done lads👏🏼 much needed win that! Ruthless in all departments and showed more hunger to win than previous series’s.. Great start to the series and now to finish off in mohali👍🏽 @OfficialSLC #INDvsSL
— Farveez Maharoof (@farveezmaharoof) December 10, 2017
#ICYMI : MS Dhoni Is The King Of DRS & He Once Again Proved It. Twitter Is Enjoying.. #INDvSL #INDvsSL
Watch video=>https://t.co/5oh5KOzOTT pic.twitter.com/O2KLqHnM8d
— RVCJ Media (@RVCJ_FB) December 10, 2017
Highest % of runs in a completed ODI inns for India:
65.78 – Kapil (175*/266) v Zim 1983
65.34 – Rohit (264/404) v SL 2014
58.62 – Ganguly (153*/261) v NZ 1999
58.03 – DHONI (65/112) v SL TODAY#IndvSL— Bharath Seervi (@SeerviBharath) December 10, 2017
Alright, we missed #ViratKohli's batting in the middle but I personally felt #Kohli's infectious aggression and high on energy attitude was badly missed. Just felt India lacked energy today in the field. Call it an off day but they need to come back hard #INDVSL
— Mikkhail Vaswani (@MikkhailVaswani) December 10, 2017
Pic 1: How Srilankan players played in last match.
Pic 2: How our players played in today's match.#INDvsSL pic.twitter.com/xGnZ770cfY
— DJay (@djaywalebabu) December 10, 2017
https://twitter.com/Sassy_Soul_/status/939807435732033536
India bowled 13 extras.10 wides & 2 no-balls. One no-ball denied India a wicket.Fair to say we lacked discipline.Defending 112 runs & conceding 13 extras in 20.4 overs is a crime.Kindly consider this as constructive criticism.We are much better side than these figures #INDvSL
— Mikkhail Vaswani (@MikkhailVaswani) December 10, 2017
Jasprit Bumrah has bowled 15 no balls in his ODI career, the most by bowler since his debut. Next: 12 by Peter Chase of Ireland. #IndvSL
— Mazher Arshad (@MazherArshad) December 10, 2017
SL seamers forcing Indian batsmen to play virtually every delivery is also one reason why India is in dire straits. Well done SL! 👏👏👏#IndvSL
— Sanjay Manjrekar (@sanjaymanjrekar) December 10, 2017
There’s only one thing cooler than the Dhauladhar Mountain Range in Dharamsala…that’s MSD. Supercool under pressure. #IndvSL
— Aakash Chopra (@cricketaakash) December 10, 2017
There’s only one thing cooler than the Dhauladhar Mountain Range in Dharamsala…that’s MSD. Supercool under pressure. #IndvSL
— Aakash Chopra (@cricketaakash) December 10, 2017
– by Nikhil Vadapalli