Welcome to the highlights of India vs Sri Lanka 1st ODI - 1997 Sri Lanka tour of India 3-match ODI series - The first One-Day International cricket match between India and Sri Lanka was played at Nehru Stadium, Guwahati on December 22, 1997.
Match Overview:
All-rounder Robin Singh's record-breaking maiden five-wicket haul and Debasis Mohanty's three-wickets before A superb innings of unbeaten 82 by captain Sachin Tendulkar leads to India comfortable seven-wicket victory over Sri Lanka and take a 1-0 lead in a low-scoring first ODI.
Match Stats:
- Robin Singh became the third Indian bowler to take a five-wicket haul against Sri Lanka in ODIs after Javagal Srinath and Manoj Prabhakar.
- Robin Singh's 5 for 22 was the fifth best bowling figures for India in one-day international and the best-bowling-figures by an Indian bowler against Sri Lanka in ODIs, surpassing the previous record of 5 for 24 held by Javagal Srinath at Kanpur in the 1993 Hero Cup.
- Robin Singh became the tenth Indian bowler to claimed a five-wicket haul in ODIs.
Match Report:
Captain Sachin Tendulkar hit an unbeaten 82 to propel India to a seven-wicket victory over world champions Sri Lanka in the first of three one-day matches.
Robin Singh had earlier taken five wickets and Debashish Mohanty three to restrict Sri Lanka to 172 for nine after Tendulkar won the toss and elected to field. Early morning fog reduced the match to 45 overs per side.
Right-arm medium-pace bowler Mohanty made an important breakthrough in his first over when he took the prized wicket of Sanath Jayasuriya, caught at point by Ajay Jadeja after scoring one.
Mohanty then dismissed Marvan Atapattu and Aravinda De Silva to leave Sri Lanka reeling at 30 for three. His final figures were three for 31 in his nine overs.
Singh, bowling gentle medium pace, removed the lower-order batsmen, claiming five for 22 in five overs, the best performance of his career.
Roshan Mahanama, batting at number three, was Sri Lanka's top scorer with 68 runs off 115 balls. He hit one four and hoisted off-spinner Rajesh Chauhan for a huge six in the 23rd over.
Captain Arjuna Ranatunga, who steadied the innings with Mahanama, was caught by Singh trying to square-cut Saurav Ganguly. He made 27.
Romesh Kaluwitharana tried to accelerate the scoring and hit three blistering boundaries in Ganguly's sixth over before he was caught at short mid-wicket by Sairaj Bahutule off Singh for 23.
India lost two wickets for 26 runs in their first nine overs.
But Navjot Sidhu and Tendulkar put the innings back on the rails with a partnership of 68 in 57 minutes off 86 balls.
Sidhu, who made 36, was caught by Atapattu at square leg as he tried to sweep off-spinner Muttiah Muralitharan.
Tendulkar and Mohammed Azharuddin, who came together with the innings at 94 for three, took charge and led India to their victory target in 37.5 overs.
Tendulkar, whose unbeaten 82 came in 110 minutes off 86 balls, mixed aggression with caution.
He reached his 50 by driving Muralitharan for a four through the covers. In the same over Tendulkar hit the off-spinner for three more fours.
The unbeaten stand between Tendulkar and Azharuddin was worth 79 runs in 90 balls by the time victory had been secured.
"I will give full credit to the bowlers who bowled with consistency," Tendulkar told reporters after the match.
In-Depth Match Highlights:
Sri Lanka scored 172-9 in the allotted 45 overs - match reduced from 50 to 45-overs per a side - due to early morning fog and mist delayed by 45 minutes - Roshan Mahanama cracked a 68 off 115-balls including one-six & a four.
Arjuna Ranatunga scored 27 off 45-balls including a boundary and Romesh Kaluwitharana hit 23 off 33-balls included 3-fours.
India best bowler by Robin Singh 5-22, Debasis Mohanty picked up 3-wickets for 31-runs in 9-overs including a maiden with economy rate of 3.44 and Sourav Ganguly took one-wicket.
India chase down the target of 173 for 3 in 37.5 overs - India's allocation overs reduced from 50 to 43-overs due to two overs fined for a slow over rate - with top scorer by Sachin Tendulkar cracked a unbeaten 82 off 86-balls including 6-fours.
Navjot Sidhu struck 36 off 50-balls including 4-fours and Mohammad Azharuddin hit a unbeaten 28 off 46-balls included 3-fours.
Sri Lanka best bowler by Chaminda Vaas and Muttiah Muralitharan both took one-wickets.
Robin Singh named Player of the match for his record-breaking bowling performance to claimed a career-best 5-wicket haul for 22-runs in 5-overs.
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