2nd T20I, Colombo, July 28, 2021, 08:00 PM
India
132/5(20.0ov)
Sri Lanka
133/6(19.4ov)
Sri Lanka beat India by 4 wickets
Best Batsmen
R
B
4S
6S
SR
Best Bowler
O
R
W
Econ
Man of the Match
Dhananjaya de Silva
Commentry
Right then. That is all from this game. Sri Lanka have been comprehensive and they have leveled the series. The door is upon for them to win the series, whereas, India will look to bounce back and seal this tour, with the T20I series win. The third and final T20I will be played on Thursday, 29th July 2021 at 8 pm local (2:30 pm GMT). Do join us then. Cheers!
The Sri Lankan captain, Dasun Shanaka says that they knew the wicket will be slow in the end. Says that the strategy was to go hard inside the Powerplay but it didn't go as planned. Says Dhananjaya de Silva and Chamika Karunaratne played well. Adds that he is happy all the players are putting their hands up in different conditions.
Shikhar Dhawan, the Indian captain says that the surface was not a surprise. Says that they knew that they are one batsman short but he is happy that they played well. Says that they were 10-20 runs short at the end. Adds that it shows a great character of the team to take the game till the last over.
DHANANJAYA DE SILVA IS THE PLAYER OF THE MATCH. He says that they were looking to win for the past couple of months and he is happy to contribute. Says that at that point, they just needed one over with 15 runs and they got the same. Tells that playing against India is tough and they held their nerve till the end. Opines that he wanted to bat until the end and he got that opportunity here and he took it with both hands.
... Stay tuned for the Presentation ...
Earlier in the day, India started off nicely with the blade, but once the opening stand was broken, they could not really bounce back. Their run-scoring was at a slower rate and the inexperienced batting line-up kept losing wickets and ended on 132. It was a brilliant day for the Lankans with the ball, as their spinners rode the challenge and did well to restrict them to this total. In the end, Sri Lanka did enough to get the win and level the series.
India bowled very well, for a side, that had too much imbalance, to begin with, but could not do enough to win the game. Even though India could have used 6 bowlers in this game, they only used 5 of their bowlers. Varun Chakravarthy was on fire, finishing with figures of 4-0-18-1. Kuldeep Yadav was also very good, but was expensive in his last over, ending with 2 to his name. Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Rahul Chahar got one wicket too, not conceding too many runs as well. Only Chetan Sakariya was slightly expensive.
Sri Lanka did not start off in the best manner, as Avishka Fernando lost his wicket in the third over. Sadeera Samarawickrama and Minod Bhanuka started looking comfortable, but the former did not last long. Bhanuka kept one side to himself, but his partners kept losing wickets regularly. Bhanuka also lost his wicket and with the momentum going the way of India, Wanindu Hasaranga and Dhananjaya de Silva scored a few boundaries and pulled the game their way again. When Hasaranga and Mendis lost their wicket, it seemed that India would romp home, but Dhananjaya de Silva and Chamika Karunaratne played right until the last over and took their team over the line.
Sri Lanka have done it! They have successfully leveled the series and now, the final game of the 3-game T20I series will be the decider. Towards the end, it looked like India would do enough to close the game out but the hosts hang on and have won this game by 4 wickets!
In over# 20
1
2
2
2wd
1
Chetan Sakariya 34/1(3.4)
19.4
1
Sri Lanka have won by 4 wickets! A fuller ball outside off, de Silva opens the face of his blade and steers it to short third man. Kuldeep Yadav there has a shy at the striker's end but misses it and the batters complete the single.
19.3
2
Another two taken! A short ball on middle, de Silva pulls it wide of deep square leg for a couple of runs. The scores are level. Just a single needed.
19.2
2
Two taken now! Good fielding too! A slower length ball outside off, de Silva cuts it to backward point. The fielder does well to dive to his right and save a couple of runs. 3 needed now.
19.2
2wd
TWO WIDES! A full ball, slanting across, outside off. Chamika Karunaratne looks to slash at it but misses. The keeper fumbles to carry it and a single is taken. 5 needed from 5 balls now!
19.1
1
Just a single. Slower length ball on off, de Silva chips it uppishly towards short fine leg. One run.
In over# 19
2
0
2
6
1
1
Bhuvneshwar Kumar 21/1(4)
18.6
2
EDGY RUNS! A fuller, slower ball outside off. Chamika Karunaratne slices it over point for a couple of runs. 8 needed of the last over.
18.5
.
A length ball way outside off. Chamika Karunaratne shuffles across and misses his swing. He can't believe that it is not called a wide.
18.4
2
Just over! A length ball outside off, the knuckle ball. Chamika Karunaratne smashes it hard towards covers. Navdeep Saini times his jump but manages just the fingertips to it. The long off comes across and keeps it under two.