SL vs IND Live Score, 2nd ODI: Sri Lanka 111/4 (27); Axar Patel removes Samarawickrama

Arshdeep Singh is back. Is India trying to look for reverse here? There’s a tiny bit of movement as per Liyanage’s gesture to his captain at the other end. 

Axar is back. HOW DID IT MISS THE STUMPS! Arm ball, beats Samarawickrama’s inside edge and goes just above the middle stump. Rahul isn’t able to grab it as well. OUT! Samarawickrama is gone! His tactic of coming down the track doesn’t work as he ends up getting a top edge and is caught inside the circle. 

Samarawickrama c Kohli b Axar 14(31)

Janith Liyanage at the crease. 

Kuldeep again. Sweeps and running between the wicket have been the way to go for Sri Lankans today. Five runs from the over. 

Sundar. Not a slow-slow pitch like the first one but continues to assist the spinners, nevertheless. Samarawickrama is now looking to come down the track to play his shots. Three from the over. 

Kuldeep. Both the new batters have now settled down and working their way through singles. But the spinners have kept on them on their toes, troubling the outside edge. 

Sundar. Samarawickrama sweeps behind square leg and gets four. Yorker! Samarawickrama is surprised as he comes down the track. Five runs more added to the total. 

Kuldeep. Samarawickrama going too far across to face him. He could find himself in trouble there. Three runs from that over. 

Sundar. Full ball and Asalanka begins the over with a slog sweep for four! Hits past the midwicket fielder inside the circle. Tight over, nevertheless. 

Kuldeep Yadav is here. Appeal for LBW off the first ball! Umpire says not out but India has reviewed. Wickets is missing. Asalanka survives. Continues to trouble Asalanka on the outside edge. Good start for Kuldeep. 

Sundar again. OUT! Mendis goes for sweep, is beaten and ball hits him straight on the pads. Umpire raises his finger without hesitation. Mendis asks his partner for DRS knowing Sundar bowled from around the wicket. But the two decide not to take the review. 

Kusal Mendis lbw b Washington Sundar 30(42)

Charith Asalanka in at five. Off the mark with a single. 

Sadeera Samarawickrama in at four. 

Axar continues. Short ball and Mendis makes room to punch the ball through the cover. Good fielding the deep cuts it down to just two. Samarawickrama is welcomed with a turner that beats him. 

Sundar. Mendis sweeps towards square leg and runs a double. Avishka sweeps and gets a four! Square leg region but much better power in that shot. OUT! Fernando chips the ball straight to Sundar. India gets a breakthrough. 

Avishka Fernando c and b Washington Sundar 40(62)

Axar. Mendis sweeps and gets a four! Brilliantly timed that and hit towards midwicket. A beautiful ball to end the over. JUST past the outside edge. 

Washington Sundar into the attack. Sweep is shot is here for Fernando! He’s beaten though. Sweeps will be vital on this pitch where scoring region will mostly by square off the wicket. 

Axar continues. And continues to trouble the right handers. Mixing the stock ball and arm ball well to keep both outside and inside edge in play. 

Dube continues. Full and Mendis pushes the ball well into the gap between midwicket and mid-on to get a boundary. Six from that over. 

Axar. He keeps troubling Mendis’ outside edge and this time Indians appeal for one and umpire raises his finger! Axar wasn’t too convinced though. Sri Lanka reviewed. The ball was very far from the bat! Not out. Surprising call by the umpire to give it out in the first place. He’s troubling both the right handers. Good over again by Axar. 

Shivam Dube into the attack. Seams away, squares up Avishka, who gets an outside edge but towards deep third. Direct hit and Indians are celebrating! Mendis wanted a quick single after hitting the ball towards mid on. Replays show he was in. Not out. Plenty of seam movement for Dube in this over. 

Axar. And here it is! The slow turn and Avishka almost chips it to extra cover. He beats him on the next two deliveries as well on the outside edge. Terrific over for Axar and spinners. 

Siraj. Avishka gets boundary. Flicks the ball in the air but safely sends it the square leg boundary. Again! Short ball and perfectly pulls it in the same region for same result. 

Axar Patel into the attack. Not much turn so far. He’s bowling a touch slower through the air. 

Siraj. Mendis tries to pull but he goes off-balance and twists his ankle! He’s on the ground and in pain. Play is paused as he receives treatment. After nearly 2-3 minute break, he’s back on his feet. Four byes! Another bouncer and it is too high for both Mendis and Rahul. 

Arshdeep. Short ball and Avishka easily pulls the ball towards square leg and finds a boundary. Easy pickings. He now comes around the wicket searching for movement. Good running between these two batters. 

Siraj. Not much movement after four overs. Nip backer! Beats Mendis’ inside edge and Rahul too isn’t able to grab the ball. Sri Lanka adds a run more through a bye. 

Arshdeep. He’s bringing the ball into the right hander. FOUR! Avishka gets one that is too full and he leans into the drive and finds the gap past cover. Early impressions: looks a much better track to play shots than last match. Too wide outside off but Arshdeep won’t mind it; it was the one that went away from the right hander. 

Siraj. FOUR! Mendis gets off the mark with a beautiful cover drive towards boundary. Excellent shot. He gets his length back and Mendis is forced to defend the entire over. 

Arshdeep Singh from the other end. Beats Avishka on first ball as he tries to drive the ball. First runs for Sri Lanka as Arshdeep bowls a down the leg wide. An appeal for LBW by Indian but umpire isn’t interested. Not much discussion for DRS as well. First runs off the bat as Avishka pushes the ball towards midwicket and runs a double. 

Siraj to Nissanka. OUT! First ball wicket for Siraj. Outswinger, Nissanka tries to defend on frontfoot and gets an outside edge straight to keeper. 

Nissanka c Rahul b Siraj 0(1). Kusal Mendis at three.

Another outswinger and Mendis defends. Terrific over, attacking the off stump and Mendis has no option but to defend. 

Indian team is in a huddle and Sri Lankan openers - Pathum Nissanka and Avishka Fernando - are walking in. Should be another tight game. 

Mohammed Siraj to bowl the first over. 

Shubman Gill rolled his arm in the first ODI. Suryakumar Yadav and Rinku Singh bowled in T20Is. AND live visuals show Rohit Sharma too bowling a few off-spin deliveries. 

India’s bowling coach Sairaj Bahutule too suggested that we could see this continuing with more top-order bats bowling. 

Read more here:

IND vs SL, 1st ODI: Indian batters will be given ample opportunities to bowl, says bowling coach Bahutule

Bowling coach Sairaj Bahutule indicated that India will continue to give bowling opportunities to its top-order batters as it can work as a “surprise element” to the opposition.

India - Rohit Sharma(c), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul(w), Shivam Dube, Washington Sundar, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Siraj, Arshdeep Singh

Sri Lanka - Pathum Nissanka, Avishka Fernando, Kusal Mendis(w), Sadeera Samarawickrama, Charith Asalanka(c), Kamindu Mendis, Janith Liyanage, Dunith Wellalage, Akila Dananjaya, Asitha Fernando, Jeffrey Vandersay

Sri Lanka wins the toss and opts to bat first. 

Two changes in SL’s squad: Hasaranga, Shiraz out; Kamindu Mendis, Jeffrey Vandersay come in. 

India playing the same playing XI. 

Warm afternoon and warm breeze blowing across. Change in pitch today. It is dry but similar to the one we played in first ODI. The gaps between the cracks are pretty wide. There’s going to be a lot of crumbling. Captain winning the toss would want to bat first. The key as a batter is to hit the gaps and run, wear the opposition down, reckons Russel Arnold. 

Looks bright and sunny right now. There could be passing showers later in the day but nothing much to worry about. 

Expect at least one change in Sri Lanka’s playing XI since Wanindu Hasaranga has been ruled out of the remaining two games due to a hamstring injury. Jeffrey Vandersay, leg spinner, has replaced him. 

As we wait for toss, you can also follow India vs Great Britain’s hockey quarterfinal in Paris Olympics.

When the two sides square off against each other for the second one-day international at the R. Premadasa International Stadium on Sunday, the focus will be on being more clinical in closing out the match and not allowing the opposition a chance to get back into the contest.

SL vs IND, 2nd ODI: Looking beyond tied matches, India and Sri Lanka hope for first win

When India and Sri Lanka square off against each other for the second one-day international at the R. Premadasa International Stadium on Sunday, the focus will be on being more clinical in closing out the match and not allowing the opposition a chance to get back into the contest.

The match will be telecast on the Sony Sports Network. The match will also be available for streaming through the Sony Liv app and website.

Welcome to the live coverage of the India vs Sri Lanka 2nd ODI set to be played at R. Premadasa Stadium in Colombo. Stay tuned for live updates.