Toss, Jasprit Bumrah’s no ball were massive moments, says Nic Pothas

Jasprit Bumrah’s overstepping allowed Upul Tharanga to continue from 11 and go on to score 49. (Source: AP)

India captain for the ODI, T20 series against Sri Lanka, Rohit Sharma brushed off claims that the Jasprit Bumrah no ball to dismiss opener Upul Tharanga was a turning point in the first ODI in Dharamsala. In the low scoring affair at the Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association Stadium, India were dismissed for 112 before Sri Lanka came back to chase down the low target with seven wickets to spare. Contrary to Rohit, Sri Lanka coach Nic Pothas believes that was a turning point in the match.

“I firmly believe that there were two massive moments in the game,” Pothas said after the match. “The toss was one and the no-ball to Upul Tharanga. We are suddenly 15 for three and that is a hugely different situation. We have looked at two situations where for me they sort of defined the day,” Pothas added.

India had two quick wickets with the dismissals of Danushka Gunathilaka (1) and Lahiru Thirimanne (0) and suddenly the contest came to life. Tharanga was on 11 when he was caught by Dinesh Karthik in the gully region and the batsman started to walk before being held back by the umpires to check for the no-ball. And, indeed Bumrah had overstepped to give him and Sri Lanka a lifeline. Tharanga went on to score 49 runs and took the game away from India’s desperate grasp.

The case is similar to when during the ICC Champions Trophy final at The Oval, Fakhar Zaman was dismissed for three but for a no ball by Bumrah and he went on to post a match-winning 114 runs.

Rohit, on the other hand, felt India had lost the game with the bat. “We lost the game with the bat and not with the ball. It will be unfair to single out one individual especially a bowler. I think we as a batting group failed to tackle the situation. I wouldn’t say it cost us dearly because there was not enough runs on the board. If we would have posted 180 or 190 it would have been different, but defending 110, you can hardly do anything except with the new ball to get three or four wickets and bounce back.”

India’s top order was hampered significantly by Suranga Lakmal’s seam bowling. The Sri Lanka bowler got the ball to swing on his whim and the batsmen looked clueless in the middle. “Look, Suranga is a world class bowler. If you give him the conditions that suit him, it doesn’t matter to whom he bowls. He is always going to make life difficult. In his career so far he has had the joy of bowling on flat, dry wickets. You give him some greenery, he will be brilliant. In South Africa at the start of this year, he was superb again. He is a class performer, gutsy individual and great guy to have in the team,” said Pothas.

The win helped Sri Lanka snap their 12-match losing streak in ODI cricket going back to July. Additionally, it was Sri Lanka’s first win over India in India after 2009. “Yes, it is a good place to be in the dressing room at the moment. We enjoyed the win. We haven’t had a lot of success in white-ball cricket this year. We are in a position now things are quite settled and the players understand their roles. We used a bit of strategy and very pleased with the way things worked out for us today,” Pothas said.