Rohit Sharma’s brilliant half-century went in vain as India lost to Sri Lanka by 32 runs in the second ODI at the R Premadasa Stadium in Colombo on Sunday (August 4).

Bowling first, the Indian spinners, headlined by Washington Sundar (3/30) and Kuldeep Yadav (2/33), put in an excellent performance yet again to keep Sri Lanka to 240/9.

In reply, Hitman (64) top-scored in the contest with a stroke-filled half-century but India were dismissed for 208 with Jeffrey Vandersay (6/33) being the pick among the Sri Lankan bowlers.

Let us have a glance at how the second ODI panned out.

What a start!

It was business as usual for Mohammed Siraj as he sent back in-form Pathum Nissanka with a peach off the very first ball of the match. Unfortunately, we could not add further wickets to the tally in the first powerplay as Sri Lanka ended at 42/1.

Dial Washi for wickets

Washington Sundar brought the smiles back, striking in his second over to break a crucial partnership. And he was not done yet. Washington made it two in two with the first ball of his next over. Guess what? Both the set batters were back in the hut.

Axar too joined the party as the Lankans slid from 74/1 to 111/4.

Spinning it our way

The spinners kept us in the game with Kuldeep Yadav bamboozling the batters with his turn and drift. Much to the delight of the Indian faithful, Hitman rolled his arm over for two overs giving away only 11 runs as the target was locked at 241.

Hitman takes off

Rohit Sharma began in style with three boundaries in the fourth over, piercing the gaps to perfection. The Hitman continued his assault against pacer Asitha Fernando with a four and a six. Where do you bowl to this man? If it’s full he will smash you down the ground and if it's a tad short, the million-dollar pull is out.

A massive six over extra cover brought RO’s second consecutive fifty, that too in just 29 balls, catapulting India to 76/0 after the first ten. A slight niggle while playing a slog sweep affected Hitman’s rhythm and his blitzkrieg of four sixes and five fours was cut short, much to the dismay of the fans.

Tense phase

It was tense out there as we slid from 97/0 to 133/5 in the space of 50 deliveries. But the fact that Axar Patel and KL Rahul, who took us out of trouble in the first match, were out in the middle gave the fans a reason to believe.

Not our day

But in the end, a fighting knock from Axar Patel (44) was not enough as India slipped to a heart-breaking loss.

We will come back stronger in the third ODI which is slated for Wednesday, August 7 in Colombo at 2:30 PM IST.

Brief scores: Sri Lanka 240/9 (Kamindu Mendis 40, Avishka Fernando 40, Washington Sundar 3/30, Kuldeep Yadav 2/33) BEAT India 208/10 (Rohit Sharma 64, Axar Patel 44, Jeffrey Vandersay 6/33, Charith Asalanka 3/20) by 32 runs.