Jeffrey Vandersay was called into Sri Lanka's ODI squad on the eve of the second ODI against India as Wanindu Hasaranga was ruled out due to a hamstring injury. On Sunday, Vandersay made his call-up count by taking a sensational 6-33, which derailed India's chase and gave Sri Lanka a famous 32-run win. “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 also. I kept hitting the right areas and with God's grace I was able to get six wickets," said Vandersay on getting Player of the Match award after the game ended.
Since his debut in December 2015, Vandersay has played 22 ODIs, due to being in and out of the team constantly. But in Sunday's victory for Sri Lanka, Vandersay became the main hero by taking out Rohit Sharma, Shubman Gill, Shivam Dube, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, and KL Rahul in 29 balls to pick the seventh-best figures by a Sri Lankan bowler in ODIs, as the hosts' took 1-0 lead in the three-match series.
"There was a lot of pressure coming into the side. I was coming off a layoff. I had to do something. It's easy to take credit with a spell like this but I want to give credit to the batters also for taking us to such a competitive total. No doubt Wanindu Hasaranga is our No.1 spinner, but I got to understand the atmosphere of the team and selections and team balance. It's tough, but I have to keep motivating myself,” he added.
Captain Charith Asalanka, who took successive three-fers, was delighted for Vandersay. "I was pretty happy with the score we got on this track. I thought 240 was good enough. Definitely, as a captain, this kind of problem I need to have (in selection post Vandersay performance). It was an unbelievable spell from him (Vandersay). When he came in for bowling, they were scoring over 9. I am still mainly a batsman and after that I bowled a few overs."
Ambidextrous spin-bowling all-rounder Kamindu Mendis, who came in for fast-bowler Mohamed Shiraz, top-scored with 40 and shared a superb 72-run stand with Dunith Wellalage to bail Sri Lanka out of trouble. He lauded his team for coming good in all three aspects of the game to outplay India.
"I think it was a good match. I think the team did really well in all three departments. The energy in the field, I have to mention it. The skipper did the job and made good decisions. In the middle, I thought 210-215 would be a good score.”
“But end of the innings we got 240 so it was a good innings. I was working hard on my fielding so I think we have to take those half-chances in the games. After the T20Is we got together and we had plans. We executed our plans brilliantly," he said.
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