Twitter Reactions: Clinical India breeze past Sri Lanka in Indore to go 1-0 up in the series
Sri Lanka never had enough runs to defend on a flat pitch.
After a damp squib in Guwahati which led to abandonment, India have won the second T20I against Sri Lanka in Indore. It was a clinical performance from the home side with the ball first and then the bat as the visitors failed to put up a fighting total on the board on a flat pitch. India have now taken an unassailable lead of 1-0 in the three-match series with the final set to be played in Pune.
Sri Lanka, after losing the toss, got off to a decent enough start. Danushka Gunathilaka and Avishka Fernando scored briskly to add 38 runs in less than five overs before Washington Sundar struck the first blow. He got the better of the latter even as Navdeep Saini castled Gunathilaka with a 147.5 kmph yorker and from here on, the visitors never got going.
Though Kusal Perera tried to hang in and scored three sixes on his way to 34 off 28 deliveries, no batsman could make it big. Rather Sri Lanka collapsed from 82/2 in the 12th over to 130/9 after 19 overs. Bumrah, surprisingly, went for 12 runs in the last over as the tourists crawled to 142/9 after 20 overs. For India, Shardul Thakur, courtesy a three-wicket over, returned with the figures of 3/23 while the others also chipped in with timely wickets.
India canter home in the chase
The moderate total was never going to trouble India. It started with KL Rahul smothering Sri Lankan bowlers to all parts with utter ease while Shikhar Dhawan played second fiddle. Rahul rather was pleasing to watch as he unfurled out a few crisp drives even as the wrists also came into play when he played the ball to the leg-side. He scored 45 off 32 deliveries with six fours before getting out to Wanindu Hasaranga.
Dhawan’s travails in the shortest format continued as he looked confused over his approach during his 29-ball 32-run stay in the middle. Even he was snaffled by the same bowler and Sri Lanka might have sensed a slender of a chance at this stage. However, it wasn’t to be. Shreyas Iyer and Virat Kohli helped India get close to victory with the former falling with just six runs needed.
India sealed the chase in the 17th over of the innings with seven wickets in hand to take a lead in the series. This also proved to be the fourth consecutive loss for Sri Lanka in the format. The third and final T20I of the series will now be played on January 10 with the first bilateral rubber of the year up for grabs for India. The visitors, on the other hand, will have to improve significantly to have any chance of levelling the series in Pune.
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