On this day: Records tumble in Rajkot as India win a high-scoring thriller
Not often a one-day game records 825 runs. Although, 13 years ago at Rajkot, this was precisely the story of the encounter between India and Sri Lanka: two centuries and four half-centuries, a whopping 80 boundaries and 24 sixes, and in the end, only three runs separated both sides.
India pile a mountain of runs
Winning the toss, the Sri Lankan skipper invited India to bat first. Openers Sachin Tendulkar and Virender Sehwag started cautiously, but it did not take long for Sehwag to explode in his renowned style. It was a day of batting partnerships. The first two wickets for India each added more than 150 runs, as the Sachin-Sehwag duo added 153 in 19.1 overs. MS Dhoni, who promoted himself to No. 3, contributed 72 in the 158-run stand for the second wicket with Sehwag.
Sehwag perished after a breathtaking knock of 146 of just 102 balls. Dhoni (72 from 53) followed four balls later. Although India lost Gautam Gambhir (16), Suresh Raina (11), and Harbhajan Singh (11) in quick succession, cameos from Virat Kohli (27) and Ravindra Jadeja (30) led them to 414 for 7 – the highest ever total in India’s ODI history.
#OnThisDay (December 15) 2009 A run-fest in Rajkot! India and Sri Lanka fought an epic ODI where each side scored over 400. A total of 825 runs, still the second-highest aggregate in an ODI. India 414/7 (50 ov) Sri Lanka 411/8 (50 ov) #Rajkot #INDvSL pic.twitter.com/koKJEOJckh
— उदय प्रताप पाण्डेय (भगवाधारी🚩) (@theudaypandey) December 15, 2020
Sri Lanka fight back
Chasing a mammoth target, the opening pair for Sri Lanka added more than 150 too. After piling up 188 runs for the first wicket in 24 overs, Tharanga was dismissed for 67 stumped by Dhoni off Raina. However, Tillakaratne Dilshan continued his carnage from one end and was joined by skipper Kumar Sangakkara, who himself was merciless with the bat.
When Sri Lanka needed merely 103 in 14 overs balls with 9 wickets in hand, they seemed to be the favourites. However, the turning point in the game came in the 37th over, bowled by Praveen Kumar, as he got rid of Sangakkara, who departed after a thrilling 90 off just 43 balls. Sri Lanka lost two quick wickets as Harbhajan Singh dismissed Sanath Jayasuriya and Dilshan, who played an incredible hand of 160 from 124.
Wickets continued to fall, but Thilina Kandamby and Angelo Mathews managed to bring down the situation to 15 from the last 12 balls for a win. Disaster struck for Sri Lanka when Kandamby (24) failed to ground his bat, and his run-out dismissal in the penultimate over gave India some relief. Needing 6 runs from 3 balls, Mathews failed to put away the full toss and was caught by Sachin Tendulkar at mid-wicket. His dismissal ended Sri Lanka’s hopes, and they ended up losing the match by 3 runs.
