How leg-spinner Jeffrey Vandersay reopened old wounds to Indian batsmen to keep Lanka within touching distance of a series win

The script was eerily similar to the first ODI a couple of nights back. Unlike Friday, it was not a collective effort, but the solo act of the new protagonist Jeffrey Vandersay. For nearly nine years, while toiling hard in the domestic circuit, the leg-spinner has been in and out of the side unable to grab a headline moment. Thanks to Indian top-order, soon after the sunset in the Colombo skies, the 34-year-old opened the old wounds for Rohit Sharma & Co, with his six-wicket haul giving Sri Lanka a 32-run win. A first ODI series win against India since 1997 is in Sri Lanka’s sight, provided they don’t lose the final match on Wednesday.

Chasing 240 – 10 more than what was needed on Friday – on an even slower pitch, India knew they had a job in their hands. In conditions where spinners were in the game throughout, they had to reread the textbooks and pick the right manual for pitches like this. Head coach Gautam Gambhir could have lent them some of his. But with an army of spinners testing them with turn and bounce, sowing seeds of doubts, India’s batting line-up with the exception of Rohit froze again. When Vandersay came on to bowl in the 12th over, India were comfortably placed at 80/0. By the time he finished his first spell in the 24th over, India were reduced to 147/6. Vandersay’s game-changing spell read: 7-0-26-6.

It was as good as Ajantha Mendis 6/13 against India in the 2008 Asia Cup final at Karachi. The one difference though is there is nothing mysterious about Vandersay. The only question though is why he hasn’t been a regular in a team that has fallen off the pecking order. Since getting his international cap in 2015, he had played only 22 ODIs and 14 T20Is before this Sunday. His lone headline moment came in 2018 when he was handed a one-year suspension by the Sri Lankan board for a night-out in St Lucia. If Wanindu Hasaranga didn’t pick up an injury in the first ODI, he would not even been in the dressing room as he joined on Saturday as a replacement.

Kamindu Mendis grabs a blinder to send Shubman Gill packing 🤯 Watch the action from #SLvIND LIVE now on Sony Sports Ten 1, Sony Sports Ten 3, Sony Sports Ten 4 & Sony Sports Ten 5 📺#SonySportsNetwork pic.twitter.com/4ChJC2i6BG — Sony Sports Network (@SonySportsNetwk) August 4, 2024

But from the moment he came on, it was inevitable his overs would determine the course of the match. Rohit and Shubman Gill had already targeted Dunith Wellalage. Even Akila Dhananjaya wasn’t spared early on as India’s intent to not let the Lankan spinners settle went according to their blueprint.

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But Vandersay’s arrival change that a bit. Having seen him bowl a quiet first over, Rohit went for a reverse-sweep – a rare instance of him rushing through the shot – which was caught brilliantly by a diving Pathum Nissanka at backward point.

Procession begins

A procession ensued. Off his next over, Gill and Virat Kohli would poke him tentatively. Then in the next over, Vandersay consumed Gill, whose thick edge was pouched by a diving Kamindu Mendis at slip. Three balls later, he trapped Shivam Dube in front. India reacted by promoting Axar Patel, but it made little difference. Off his fifth over, he trapped Kohli with a leg-spinner with the batsman guilty of playing the wrong line.

The match was slipping away from India’s grip. They needed a calm head to tide through this testing spell, but Vandersay was in no mood to settle for anything less. He continued to keep it simple and he would be rewarded with the dismissal of Shreyas Iyer in his sixth over. By the time Rahul was out in the next over, the game was in Lanka’s bag. Axar and Washington Sundar would try to delay the inevitable, but Charith Asalanka’s part-time off-spin finished the job that Vandersay began.

It was a Vandersay special tonight! 🌪️ His six-wicket haul against India, a career-best, was the magic we needed.🪄 🏏 What a performance! #SLvIND pic.twitter.com/TH3PADrgfr — Sri Lanka Cricket 🇱🇰 (@OfficialSLC) August 4, 2024

Their batting collapse overshadowed the bowling efforts of Axar, Washington and Kuldeep Yadav. In the 29 overs between them, they conceded only 101 runs and picked up 6 wickets with the off-spinner being the pick of the lot. They were more economical than the three main Lankan spinners, but the difference was how well the hosts’ batting line-up applied themselves collectively on the pitch.

None of them touched 50 with Avishka Fernando’s and Kamindu Mendis 40 being the top-score. But they all eschewed the risky shots and happily went for the deft touches and worked the spinners around for singles and twos. Against the seamers, especially in the death overs, they opened up. At the end of the 40 overs, Sri Lanka had just 161 on board and had just four wickets left. But a couple of big overs off Mohammed Siraj and Arshdeep and a 12-run over from Axar would propel their total beyond India’s reach.

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Brief scores: Sri Lanka 240/9 in 50 overs. (Avishka 40, Kamindu 40, Wellalage 39; Washington 3/30, Kuldeep 2/33) bt India 208 in 42.2 overs (Rohit 64, Axar 44; Vandersay 6/33, Asalanka 3/20) by 32 runs.

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