Chasing a target of 232 runs to win, team India made a strong start to their innings, with openers Rohit Sharma (54) and Shikhar Dhawan (49) stitching a pivotal 109-run stand to provide the visitors with an initial thrust. Unfortunately for everyone’s shock, the Men is Blue has suffered a dramatic collapse, losing their seven wickets for just 22 runs.
Right-arm Sri Lanka spinner Akila Dananjay wreaked havoc as he scalped six wickets by conceding just 39 runs to take his side in the course of a dramatic win. The chips were down for team India and everyone thought that Sri Lankans are going to win the second ODI.
Here comes Indian pacer Bhuvneshwar Kumar to join MS Dhoni at a pressure situation when India was at 131/7. Bhuvi from nowhere stepped-in the battlefield to help Dhoni in the run chase. However, Dhoni ended with a match-winning unbeaten 100-run stand with Bhuvneshwar Kumar (53), who slammed his maiden fifty in one-day internationals.
When asked about the match at the post match presentation, Bhuvi conceded that MS Dhoni helped him settle the nerves. He also revealed that Dhoni asked him to play in the same way as he would do in a typical Test match. This was evident during the game when the boundaries had dried up and both players just nurdled around for singles.
“It was a bit surprising to me because we had a great opening start and all of a sudden, we collapsed. It was a panic situation for us. When I went into bat, Dhoni told me to play my natural game, ‘play as if you are playing a Test match.’ He told me not to take any pressure,” quoted Bhuvneshwar Kumar.
“We knew that if played the entire overs, we will end up winning. There was nothing to lose for us. We were already seven down. And I just went to bat without having any kind of pressure on myself. I just wanted to support MS as much I could. We didn’t plan anything extraordinary. We tried to keep it simple and not let the asking rate go beyond 6-7,” conceded Bhuvneshwar.
Bhuvneshwar played the ideal supporting role to senior batsman MS Dhoni in the run chase. MS Dhoni and Bhuvneshwar Kumar registered a 100-run partnership for the eighth wicket to help Team India secure 3-wicket victory over Sri Lanka in the second ODI. Team India is now in lead with 2-0 and two sides will lock horns in the third ODI on August 27.
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