‘I put his batting in my mind’ – Wellalage draws motivation from Nissanka

On a challenging surface at Khettarama, 21-year-old Dunith Wellalage gave an outstanding all-around effort. With a total of 230 for 8 in the opening ODI, he batted at No. 7 and produced Sri Lanka’s greatest innings, striking 67 not out off 65.

In the defensive role, the left-arm spinner claimed 2 for 39 off nine overs, including the vital wicket of India’s top batsman for the evening, Rohit Sharma. Sri Lanka then proceeded to level the match.

In terms of batting, Wellalage had entered the game cautiously at 101 for 5 in the 27th over, but he appeared to be the most at ease batter for both sides on a surface where nobody really looked set, hitting some strong boundaries towards the end of the innings. He claimed that a Sri Lankan teammate served as motivation for this innings.

Having scored runs in the Twenty20 Internationals, Pathum Nissanka, who reached another fifty on Friday, has been the home team’s top batter thus far in the tour.

“We can exert more pressure on them if we can contain our mistakes during our innings,” Wellalage remarked of his strategy. “

They have a lot of experienced bowlers.” “A lot of my time was spent watching Pathum Nissanka bat. As I worked up a strategy, I considered his batting. The pitch, if you take it, was conducive to spin bowling. My goal was to establish a partnership and exert maximum pressure on the bowler.”

He may have delivered the night’s most significant blow with the ball. Hurrying to his fifty off thirty-three balls, Rohit looked as though he would make light work of the target. However, Rohit’s innings was cut short at 58 off 47 when Wellalage beat him in flight in the fifteenth over and smacked him in front of the stumps as he attempted a sweep shot.

“A lot of my time was spent watching Pathum Nissanka bat. As I was thinking of a strategy, I considered his batting.”Wellalage Dunith
Following his dismissal of Shubman Gill, he again produced a superbly flighted delivery that Gill top-edged high enough for the keeper to track. Within the powerplay, Wellalage was the first spinner to be added.

“We were aware of the wicket’s rotation. I was informed that I would be bowling during the powerplay by Charith Asalanka. The wicket also provided me with good support.

“With Rohit at the time, I was trying just to bowl wicket-to-wicket, because I knew how much assistance there was from the pitch.”

Wanindu Hasaranga and Asalanka were all there in the middle to late overs, according to Wellalage. Asalanka put the finishing touches on the match when she grabbed two wickets in the 48th over, tying the score at three wickets apiece for those two bowlers. His other wicket came when he caught Axar Patel behind.

KL Rahul, Kuldeep Yadav, and Virat Kohli had previously been ejected by Hasaranga.

“The game shifted when we bowled because of the wickets that Wanindu and Charith aiya took. We were able to at least maintain this total because they took wickets when things were really tough. Two batsmen who have completed numerous games are Axar Patel and KL Rahul.

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“We had to get the bowlers in at that point, and when Charith and Wanindu removed Axar and KL Rahul, respectively. At that point, maintaining composure was crucial, and the game went in our favour.”