“Sri Lanka’s Jeffrey Vandersay Reveals Key Reason Behind Victory Over India”

Jeffrey Vandersay was called into Sri Lanka’s ODI squad on the eve of the second ODI against India, replacing Wanindu Hasaranga who was ruled out due to a hamstring injury. On Sunday, Vandersay capitalized on this opportunity by taking an impressive 6-33, which disrupted India’s chase and secured a 32-run win for Sri Lanka. “There was assistance on the wicket, so I was trying to hit the good areas and do the basics right. This is my first game after some time, so I had to bowl in good areas. Once I got the first wicket, I built up confidence. I kept hitting the right areas, and with God’s grace, I was able to get six wickets,” Vandersay said after receiving the Player of the Match award.

Since his debut in December 2015, Vandersay has played 22 ODIs, often finding himself in and out of the team. However, in Sunday’s victory, Vandersay emerged as the main hero, dismissing Rohit Sharma, Shubman Gill, Shivam Dube, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, and KL Rahul in just 29 balls. This performance marked the seventh-best figures by a Sri Lankan bowler in ODIs and gave the hosts a 1-0 lead in the three-match series.

“There was a lot of pressure coming into the side after a layoff. I had to perform. It’s easy to take credit with a spell like this, but I want to give credit to the batters for setting a competitive total. No doubt Wanindu Hasaranga is our No.1 spinner, but I understand the team’s atmosphere and selection dynamics. It’s tough, but I have to keep motivating myself,” he added.

Captain Charith Asalanka, who took three successive wickets, expressed his delight for Vandersay. “I was pretty happy with the score we got on this track. I thought 240 was good enough. As a captain, having such selection dilemmas post Vandersay’s performance is a good problem to have. His spell was unbelievable. When he started bowling, they were scoring over 9 an over. I’m still primarily a batsman, but I bowled a few overs,” Asalanka said.

Ambidextrous spin-bowling all-rounder Kamindu Mendis, who replaced fast-bowler Mohamed Shiraz, top-scored with 40 and shared a crucial 72-run partnership with Dunith Wellalage to rescue Sri Lanka from a difficult situation. He praised his team for excelling in all three aspects of the game to outplay India.

“I think it was a good match. The team performed well in all three departments. The energy in the field was noteworthy. The skipper made good decisions. Initially, I thought 210-215 would be a good score, but we ended up with 240, which was a solid total. I have been working hard on my fielding, and we need to take those half-chances in games. After the T20Is, we came together and executed our plans brilliantly,” he said.