Colombo: Skipper Rohit Sharma played on a different 'track' from his other teammates, who were thoroughly exposed against quality spin bowling as Sri Lanka managed to force a tie against India in a low-scoring but thrilling opening One-Day International (ODI) here on Friday.
In a chase of 231, skipper Rohit smashed 58 off 47 balls on a rank turner with variable bounce, taking his team to 71/0 in 10 overs but all the other batters never looked comfortable against an army of Lankan spinners as skipper Charith Asalanka got wickets off back-to-back deliveries to play his part in the 44th tie in the history of ODI cricket.
When Shivam Dube (25) hit two sixes and a boundary through the extra cover to tie the scores, it seemed like Sri Lanka's woes would continue, but Asalanka took it upon himself to at least earn a psychological win for the home team.
Rohit didn't look one bit rusty during his destructive half-century but the Indian middle-order stuttered badly, showing their ineptitude against slow bowlers.
After the Indian bowling unit collectively put up a good show on a turner, restricting Sri Lanka to 230/8, Rohit's 58 gave India a destructive start. Things went into a downward spiral after that as Sri Lanka's battery of spinners, led by Wanindu Hasaranga (3/58 in 10 overs), Akila Dananjaya (/140 in 10 overs), Dunith Wellalage (2/39 in 8 overs) and Asalanka (3/30 in 8.5 overs), not only choked the run flow but also got breakthroughs when necessary.
KL Rahul (31 off 43 balls) seemed to once again play his natural waiting game. But threw his wicket away.
Virat Kohli (23), Shreyas Iyer (24) and Axar Patel (33) all got starts but couldn't capitalise.
Earlier, fifties from Pathum Nissanka and Dunith Wellalage carried the hosts to a fighting score.
Nissanka (56, 75b, 9x4) was a picture of concentration and Wellalage (67 not out, 65b, 7x4, 2x6) of confidence after Asalanka opted to bat.
Sri Lanka had a shaky start to their innings when Mohammed Siraj ousted Avishka Fernando but Nissanka and Kusal Mendis (14) added 39 runs for a steady second wicket as the hosts staged a mini-recovery.
Just as it happened in the preceding T20I series, the Islanders showed the propensity to throw their wickets away from that point.
This is not to undermine the excellent effort put in by the Indian bowlers, who elicited several false shots from the Lankan batters.
Mendis fell leg-before to Dube, who made his return to one-day cricket after a hiatus of five years with that scalp.
From a relatively comfortable 46/2, the Lankan innings soon crash-landed to 101/5 in the 27th over.
Wellalage was quite impressive after his initial struggles against Kuldeep. The crunchy back-foot punch through the covers for four off Washington and a few other ramps and scoops were a testimony to the youngster's potential.
The left-hander, who added another 46 with Dhananjaya for the eighth wicket, brought up his maiden ODI fifty off 59 balls, also assisting his side to go past the 200-run mark that once appeared far away.
