Shreyas Iyer and Ravindra Jadeja’s stunning knocks powered India to a series-clinching 7-wicket win in the second T20I played on Saturday at the Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association (HPCA) Ground in Dharamsala. Chasing a huge total of 184 to win, India made 186/3 in 17.1 overs to win the game by a margin of 7 wickets in hand and close to 3 overs to spare.
Pathum Nissanka’s 75, Danushka Gunathilaka’s 38 and a superb 47 not out from only 19 balls from the Sri Lankan captain Dasun Shanaka powered the visiting side to a strong total of 183/5 after they were asked to bat first by India.
In reply, the Indian top order could not trouble the scorers match but Iyer turned around the game for India with a scintillating knock of 74 not out, which came from on the 44 balls studded with 6 boundaries and 4 sixes. It was also the second consecutive half-century in the format as well as the series.
India also found other heroes in their wicket-keeper batsman Sanju Samson and all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja, who both chipped in with crucial knocks with the bat to help India clinch the series 2-0, but one more game left to play. India have now recorded three consecutive bilateral series victories in the T20I format.
It was Sri Lanka who were asked to bat first by the Indian captain R Sharma. The Sri Lankan opening pair of Pathum Nissanka and Danushka Gunathilaka did well to add 67 runs from 8.4 overs to provide the team with a strong platform to launch for a big total. However, post the dismissal of Gunathilaka, Sri Lanka stuttered as the lost wickets in heaps to be reduced to 102/4 from 14.4 overs at one stage.
India leg-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal dismissed Charith Asalanka for 2, Kamil Mishara was removed out of the equation by Harshal Patel for 1 whereas the experienced wicketkeeper-batsman Dinesh Chandimal could manage only 9 from 10 balls before he was the victim of India vice-captain Jasprit Bumrah.
With their innings falling apart, Sri Lanka needed their captain to fire and Dasun Shanaka did exactly that. While Nissanka went about his job dealing in boundaries along the ground, Shanaka clobbered as many as 5 sixes and 2 boundaries to smack a quickfire 47, which came from early 19 balls. Shanaka and Nissanka added a rapid 58 runs for the fifth wicket which came from only 26 balls whereas the partnership for the sixth wicket between Shanaka and Chamika Karunaratne was of 23 runs from just one over.
Unlike in the first match where India used seven different bowling options, the home team stuck with only five specialist bowlers for this contest with each of Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Bumrah, Harshal Patel, Chahal and Jadeja getting one wicket apiece.
In their reply, India were rocked early when their captain R Sharma was cleaned up by Sri Lanka bowler Dushmantha Chameera on the second ball that he faced. The hero of the first match for India, Ishan Kishan, could not produce another big innings as he too was dismissed for a cheap score of 16, which came from 15 balls with the help of 2 boundaries.
With their innings not finding any momentum so far and the batsmen on crease — Iyer and Sanju Samson — looked to drop the anchor and go through the hard ground. Both batsmen were scratchy at the start of the respective innings but eased into the job of getting the runs for India, eventually finding their rhythm to add a superb 84 runs from only 47 balls for the third wicket.
Samson, who has been selected in the series on the basis of his abilities rather than performances for the Indian cricket team, did not disappoint on Saturday night in Dharamsala as he made a fluent 39, hitting 3 sixes and 2 boundaries from the 25 balls that he faced.
Samson was dismissed by Lahiru Kumara in the 13th over but India were still a significant distance away from their target. Promoted ahead of the genuine all-rounders but young in experience, Venkatesh Iyer and Deepak Hooda, the veteran Ravindra Jadeja turned up in his most aggressive mode with the bat on Saturday night. Jadeja hammered 7 boundaries and 1 six to score 45 not out from only 18 balls, adding 58 runs for the fourth wicket in the company of Iyer, as the two batsmen finished the game one ball into the 18th over.
The two teams will now meet at the same venue on Sunday night for the third and final match of the slam bang format series.
Devarchit Varma is a cricket writer and journalist with an experience of more than a decade, having worked at Hindustan Times (newspaper) and CricketCountry (website). Along with covering international and domestic cricket, he has also interviewed several current and former top players such as Rohit Sharma, Steve Smith, Dale Steyn, Michael Hussey, Jacques Kallis, Brendon McCullum, Shane Watson, Lasith Malinga and many more. He has also worked in other beats as a journalist in Bollywood (Reliance BigOye) and IT (SiliconIndia) industries.
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