Rahul, Kuldeep shine as India seal ODI series victory

India secured the series victory with a narrow four-wicket win against Sri Lanka in the second ODI at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata. Kuldeep Yadav and Mohammed Siraj led the way with the ball for the Men in Blue, picking up six wickets between them to help bowl out the Lankans for 215. India slumped to 86 for four in the run chase, but KL Rahul guided the team home with an unbeaten 64 to seal the series win with four wickets to spare.

Having won the toss and chosen to bat, Sri Lanka got off to a commendable start to their innings. Mohammed Siraj bowled a fantastic new ball spell and cleaned up Avishka Fernando with an in-dipper, but the debutant Nuwanidu Fernando kept their innings on track alongside Kusal Mendis. The pair added 14 runs from Umran Malik’s opening over and took on the pacers to bring up their half-century partnership in just 46 deliveries.

However, while the runs flowed freely against the pacers, it was a different story once the spinners came into the attack. Replacing Yuzvendra Chahal in the XI, Kuldeep Yadav picked up a wicket in his first over. The wrist-spinner trapped Kusal Mendis with a delivery that went straight on, kickstarting the Sri Lankan collapse through the middle overs.

In the next over, Axar Patel removed Dhananjaya de Silva for a golden duck with a slider before Nuwanidu Fernando ran himself out for 50. Kuldeep Yadav added to Sri Lanka’s woes with a pair of quick wickets, leaving the tourists reeling at 126 for six. The lower order showed some resistance to take Sri Lanka to a respectable total but the pace of Umran Malik bagged two wickets before Mohammed Siraj cleaned up the tail to bowl the visitors out for 215.

In reply, India faced issues of their own in the run chase. Shubman Gill and Rohit Sharma got off to blazing starts but didn’t last long at the crease. The skipper nicked off to Karunaratne while Gill found short mid-wicket after a flurry of boundaries. The stakes were raised when Virat Kohli and Shreyas Iyer departed in quick succession, but KL Rahul eased the tension with an invaluable knock.

The number five showed plenty of patience in the middle and steadied the chase with a 75-run stand with Hardik Pandya. Both players ran the singles and manoeuvred the field to great effect, and Rahul ensured that he stayed there till the end to see India home, finishing with an unbeaten 64* to complete the chase in the 44th over.