Superlative India checkmates young Sri Lanka

An excellent all-round performance by the experienced Indians nailed down the young Sri Lankan outfit by 69 runs in the second T20I match in Ranchi on Friday night.

The strong Indian batting lineup flexed their muscles to power their way to a commanding 196 and later on choked the Islanders using the scoreboard pressure and their bowling artillery on a wearing surface to level the series, 1-1.

The visitors chasing 197 runs to win lost quick wickets early on. MS Dhoni whipped off the bails in lightning speed to dismiss TM Dilshan for a golden duck off R.Ashwin in the very first over. Sri Lanka sent in Seekkuge Prasanna as a pinch-hitter but he failed to make any sizeable contribution.

Dhanushka Gunathilaka was troubled by the variations of Ashwin but fell in the first ball he faced off the faster bowlers’ as the visitors were tottering at 16 for 3. Chandimal and Kapugedara tried to repair the innings with a 52-run stand but the asking-rate and the spin of Ravindra Jadeja got the better of the Lankan duo in the 12th over.

With the required rate climbing up to over 20 runs per over, Dasun Shanaka and Milinda Siriwardana made a few lusty blows but failed to take the Sri Lankan score near the target due to the slowness of the surface and the regular loss of wickets.

Earlier, Chandimal won the toss and surprisingly elected to field on a surface which had no support to the bowlers unlike the previous game. Shikhar Dhawan and Rohit Sharma started off aggressively giving a reality check to the young Lankan seamers.

The two strong Indian openers caressed the rough outfield to accumulate 70 off the first 6 overs to give a solid base. Dhawan was undone by the extra pace and bounce of  Chameera as the visitors drew first blood right after the fielding restrictions.

The Lankans bowled a few tight overs to put the brakes on to the run-flow but the Indians found the occasional boundary. Chameera came back for his second over to dismiss Sharma with a spectacular return catch when his slower ball took a leading edge which popped up to the right of the bowler.

Senanayake picked up the wicket of Ajinkya Rahane in the 15th over with Sri Lanka looking to tie down India in the final five overs but Suresh Raina and Hardik Pandya had other plans as they pummeled the Lankans with a blistering 26-ball partnership worth 59.

In the 19th over, Thisara Perera became the first Sri Lankan to take a hat-trick in T20I cricket as he removed Pandya, Raina and Yuvraj in consecutive balls as the batsmen fell looking for quick runs.

Chandimal’s tactics were found wanting as he used his barrage of spinners to bowl only 8 overs on a dry and slow surface, which could have made a big difference to the final Indian score.

The final and third series deciding match will be played on 14th February at Vishakapatnam.