Sri Lanka put up improved batting effort to reach 275/9
Colombo, Jul 20: Leg-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal led India's decent effort with the ball as a self-destructing Sri Lanka slipped to 275 for nine in the second ODI here on Tuesday.
Pretty much like the series opener, most of the Sri Lankan batsmen got starts but failed to capitalise after the hosts opted to bat.
Avishka Fernando (50 off 71) and Charith Asalanka (65 off 68) struck fine half-centuries but the home team wasn't disciplined enough to post an imposing total.
Chamika Karunaratne (44 not out off 33) came up with another timely cameo to take the team past 270.
Chahal (3/50) was the pick of the bowlers while pacers Deepak Chahar (2/53) and Bhuvneshwar Kumar (3/54) too got wickets primarily due to profligacy of the home team batsmen.
Openers Fernando (50 off 71) and Minod Bhanuka (36 off 42) took Sri Lanka to 59 for loss in the first 10 overs.
The momentum shifted India's way drastically after Chahal removed Minod and Bhanuka Rajapaksa off successive balls in the 14th over. In Minod's case, it was a soft dismissal as the well set southpaw charged down the wicket and flicked an eventual full toss straight to Manish Pandey at mid-wicket.
The next one from Chahal was a beauty which held its line to a take faint outside edge of Rajapaksa's bat and wicketkeeper Ishan Kishan managed to clutch onto the catch.
Sri Lanka, who are among the worst performing teams in the middle overs, struggled again in the crucial stage of the game. They took 97 balls to take find their next boundary after the eight over.
From 77 for no loss in the 14th over, Sri Lanka slipped to 134 for four in the 28th over.
Asalanka and skipper Dasun Shanaka tried to resurrect the innings but their 38-run stand ended with the captain falling to a flatter one from Chahal.
Chahar took his second wicket with a perfect knuckle ball that crashed through Wanindu Hasaranga's defences.
Asalanka played some bold strokes alongside Karunaratne to give the innings some impetus towards the end.
Asalanka got to his maiden fifty with a lofted boundary over extra cover off Kuldeep Yadav before sweeping the left-arm wrist spinner for another four in the same over.
The pitch aided India's spinners like the first game.
Bhuvneshar kept things tight but bowled at a slower pacer than his usual.
Considering the form India's young batsmen displayed in the series opener, it should be another comfortable run chase for the visitors.
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Another North Goa nightclub sealed; Kejriwal says corruption led to fire tragedy
Panaji (PTI): As part of a crackdown against tourist establishments violating laws and safety norms in the aftermath of the Arpora fire tragedy, Goa authorities on Saturday sealed a renowned club at Vagator and revoked the fire department NOC of another club.
Cafe CO2 Goa, located on a cliff overlooking the Arabian Sea at Vagator beach in North Goa, was sealed. The move came two days after Goya Club, also in Vagator, was shut down for alleged violations of rules.
Elsewhere, campaigning for local body polls, AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal said the fire incident at Birch by Romeo Lane nightclub at Arpora, which claimed 25 lives on December 6, happened because the BJP government in the state was corrupt.
An inspection of Cafe CO2 Goa by a state government-appointed team revealed that the establishment, with a seating capacity of 250, did not possess a no-objection certificate (NOC) of the Fire and Emergency Services Department. The club, which sits atop Ozrant Cliff, also did not have structural stability, the team found.
The Fire and Emergency Services on Saturday also revoked the NOC issued to Diaz Pool Club and Bar at Anjuna as the fire extinguishers installed in the establishment were found to be inadequate, said divisional fire officer Shripad Gawas.
A notice was issued to Nitin Wadhwa, the partner of the club, he said in the order.
Campaigning at Chimbel village near Panaji in support of his party's Zilla Panchayat election candidate, Aam Aadmi Party leader Kejriwal said the nightclub fire at Arpora happened because of the "corruption of the Pramod Sawant-led state government."
"Why this fire incident happened? I read in the newspapers that the nightclub had no occupancy certificate, no building licence, no excise licence, no construction licence or trade licence. The entire club was illegal but still it was going on," he said.
"How could it go on? Couldn't Pramod Sawant or anyone else see it? I was told that hafta (bribe) was being paid," the former Delhi chief minister said.
A person can not work without bribing officials in the coastal state, Kejriwal said, alleging that officers, MLAs and even ministers are accepting bribes.
