Young talent Jeffrey Vandersay demonstrated a dominant performance with the ball claiming six crucial wickets as Sri Lanka crushed India to a 32-run defeat in the second ODI on Sunday at R.Premadasa Stadium, Colombo, to take a 1-0 lead in the three-match series. Jeffrey trapped Rohit Sharma, Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, KL Rahul, Shivam Dube and Shreyas Iyer to knock down India’s star-studded batting lineup. 

Earlier, opting to bat, Sri Lanka posted a competitive total of 240/9 in their (50) overs, thanks to collective efforts from their middle-order batters after robust opener Pathum Nissanka lost his wicket without scoring a single run. Avishka Fernando and Kamindu Mendis contributed (40) runs each to guide the side to a fighting score. Dunith Wellalage and Kusal Mendis chipped in with (39) and (30) runs respectively to lay a solid foundation for the bowlers to defend.

India, in their chase, got off to a promising start, with skipper Rohit Sharma leading from the front with a sizzling knock of (64), displaying his characteristic aggressive stroke play. His opening partner, Shubman Gill, also contributed a valuable (35), putting India in a strong position early in their innings.

However, the middle-order batters failed to capitalize on the solid start provided by the openers after Sri Lanka’s mystery bowler Jeffrey Vandersay came out with an outstanding spell, striking with valuable wickets to put India under huge pressure. India went on to lose their wickets at regular intervals, disrupting the momentum and putting themselves on the back foot. On the other hand, Sri Lanka bowlers capitalised on this, maintaining pressure and not allowing any significant partnerships to develop.

Sri Lanka's disciplined bowling and sharp fielding ensured they kept chipping away at the wickets, eventually bowling India out for 208 in 42.2 overs.