From 29/7 to 112 Total : Only MS Dhoni can do this : Dhoni fights : Full Video

India vs Sri Lanka, 1st ODI (D/N), Dharamsala, Dec 10 2017, Sri Lanka tour of India

Match Result: Sri Lanka won by 7 wickets (with 176 balls remaining)

Player of the Match: Suranga Lakmal

Match Report: India were all out for 112. It could have been a whole lot worse – they were 29 for 7 at one point – had it not been for Dhoni and his expert shepherding of the lower order. Still, Sri Lanka look good to win this, and Suranga Lakmal, who bowled 10 overs on the trot to finish with figures of 4 for 13, remains the player who has made the most impact on this match. But India have given themselves the slimmest of chances now. It will be interesting to see whether Indian bowlers can produces some magical spells here at Dharamsala.

Angelo Mathews: “It’s a very pleasing moment. The past few months have not been good for us, but we’ve remained confident and worked very hard. Two more games to go, we can’t relax. The way Suranga Lakmal set the tone was fantastic, followed by all the other bowlers.

We never thought it was going to move around that much. We knew it was a bit sticky. In the shorter formats, I’ve always bowled, and I want to bowl. It’s just the workload management in the Test matches, and the selectors were very understanding. I’m very happy to bowl in the shorter formats.”

Thisara Perera: “First of all we have to give 200% credit to our bowlers. They were disciplined, and bowled the right length and the right areas. This is an unplayable wicket. We didn’t expect that. We expected 250-260, but after that Suranga and Angelo bowled very well. At the moment, [Lakmal] is our first fast bowler. He’s done very well in the Test series as well. I have to mention that Upul gave a good start and he’s one of our best openers.”

Rohit Sharma: “Two games to go, but having said that, we were not up to the mark today with the bat. Not enough runs on the board. The bowlers came out and did what they could. If we had 70-80 more runs, it could have been different, but we lost the match with the bat today.

We want to thrive in these type of conditions and come out good. We won’t always get to play on flat pitches. Today was not the ideal day for all our batters. It was an eye-opener. Hopefully we can regroup and come back in the next two matches. [Dhoni] has done it for so many years and he knows exactly how to bat in these situations. Someone else with him could have made the difference but he was battling alone.

Not such a great experience [to lead for the first time], because we lost, but we’ve got to forget what happened, and come back in the next two games.”

Suranga Lakmal | Player of the match. “Last few years have been very good. Credit to the coaching staff who have done a lot of hard work with me. My fitness, my hard work, my health, everything has come together.”