When was the last time Sri Lanka won an ODI against Team India?
After being whitewashed in both the T20I and ODI series against England on the previous tour, Sri Lanka will look to end their losing run by bagging a win against Team India in the first ODI on Sunday, July 18. R Premadasa Stadium in Colombo will host the series opener.
It will be the debut series for Dasun Shanaka as skipper of the Sri Lanka national team. Kusal Perera, who served as captain during the England tour, is out of the series due to an injury.
Sri Lanka have faced India in 159 ODI matches so far. They have won 56 contests and lost on 91 occasions and their recent record against India is rather poor. In the last 15 contests against Team India, Sri Lanka have won just two matches while losing 13 of them.
December 10, 2017: Suranga Lakmal's brilliant spell helped Sri Lanka hand a humiliating defeat to India at Dharamsala
The HPCA Cricket Stadium in Dharamsala was the venue for Sri Lanka's last victory against India in ODI cricket. It was the first ODI of the 3-match series during Sri Lanka's tour of India in the winter of 2017. Virat Kohli was rested for the series and Rohit Sharma led Team India in the regular skipper's absence.
Sri Lankan captain Thisara Perera won the toss and invited the hosts to bat first on a greenish track. The Lankan pacers backed up his decision by putting in a clinical display of swing bowling. Suranga Lakmal, in particular, was too hot to handle as he ended up with enviable figures of 10-4-13-4. Five Indian batsmen got out for a duck, and three others fell for single-digit scores.
India's designated crisis man in the 2010s, MS Dhoni (65 in 87 balls), fought stubbornly at one end and tried his best to take his team to a respectable total. But the other batsmen failed and India were bundled out for a paltry 112 in 38.2 overs. Other than Dhoni, Hardik Pandya (10) and Kuldeep Yadav (19) were the only batsmen to reach double digits.
In reply, Bumrah and Bhuvneshwar Kumar reduced Sri Lanka to 19/2 in 6.2 overs and gave the hosts a glimmer of hope. However, Upul Tharanga (49) played an attacking brand of cricket and took the game away from India.
Responsible knocks by Angelo Mathews (25*) and Niroshan Dickwella (26*), after the visitors lost three wickets at 65, meant there weren't any further hiccups in the short chase. The duo finished the chase in the 21st over to give Sri Lanka a comprehensive seven-wicket victory against Team India.