SL vs IND: Wanindu Hasaranga imitates MS Dhoni hitting blindly at stumps during 2nd T20I

Sri Lanka produced a good performance with both bat and ball as they managed to beat India by four wickets in a thriller of a game in the second T20I in Colombo. Although India were left to field an altogether different team, the hosts still had to face the likes of Shikhar Dhawan, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, and Kuldeep Yadav among other IPL stars.

The Lankans first restricted India to just 132 putting constant pressure on the batters. Only skipper Dhawan could get going and scored a slow 40. The hero of the match was Wanindu Hasaranga for Sri Lanka. During the fag end of the Indian innings, Kumar was looking for few quick runs.

In the penultimate over when Hasaranga came to bowl, the right-handed batter wanted to connect a slog towards long-on, which he failed to as he could get only two runs for it. Just when Nitish Rana was looking to complete the second run at the non-striker’s end, Hasarnaga managed to collect the throw just in time and hit the stumps with a back-hand flick without bothering to look for the target.

Although Rana comfortably made it to the crease, the leg-spinner’s act of brilliance drew comparisons to legendary cricketer MS Dhoni. The 40-year-old is known for his lightning-fast hands and the back-hand flick which he has successfully carried out in international matches as well as in the IPL.

India keen to win the series

With the win in the second T20I, Sri Lanka leveled the three-match series 1-1. With one game to go, both the teams will be eager to end the tour on a high. India were slightly off-color as there were a lot of new faces in the team, owing to Krunal Pandya testing COVID positive. All the four debutants Nitish Rana, Devdutt Padikkal, Ruturaj Gaikwad, and Chetan Sakariya looked decent but couldn’t produce a top-notch match-winning performance.

With the third match set to be played on Thursday, India would look to win the match and the series. On the other hand, Sri Lanka will also be keen to end their losing streak in the T20I series. The team from Island nation has not won a series in the shortest format since 2019.