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  IND vs SL, 2nd Twenty20: India thrash Sri Lanka to level series in Ranchi

IND vs SL, 2nd Twenty20: India thrash Sri Lanka to level series in Ranchi

AGENCIES
Published : Feb 13, 2016, 2:17 am IST
Updated : Feb 13, 2016, 2:17 am IST

Riding on Shikhar Dhawan’s maiden T20 fifty and a strong display in the field, India coasted to a series-levelling 69-run win in the second game against Sri Lanka here on Friday.

Shikhar Dhawan gave India a scintillating start in the second T20 on Friday. (Photo: PTI )
 Shikhar Dhawan gave India a scintillating start in the second T20 on Friday. (Photo: PTI )

Riding on Shikhar Dhawan’s maiden T20 fifty and a strong display in the field, India coasted to a series-levelling 69-run win in the second game against Sri Lanka here on Friday.

Chasing India’s imposing 196/6, the visitors were pegged back to 127/9 in their 20 overs.

Dhawan (51 off 25 balls) stood out in India’s run feast with the other notable performance coming from his opening partner Rohit Sharma (43 off 36), Hardik Pandya (27 off 12) and Suresh Raina (30 off 19).

The bowlers then got into the act, off-spinner R. Ashwin leading the way with 3/14. He got good support from Ravindra Jadeja who had 2/24 with his left-arm spin while seamers Ashish Nehra and Jasprit Bumrah chipped in .

Earlier, the visitors pulled things back in the penultimate over with pacer Thisara Perera (3/33) picking up a hat-trick, the fourth ever in T20 Internationals and first by a Sri Lankan.

Sri Lanka put the hosts in to bat for the second game in a row and India openers were on fire from the word go. Unlike the greenish deck for the first T20, the pitch aided the strokeplay they are known for.

Pacer Kasun Rajitha, who troubled the famed Indian batting on his international debut in Pune, proved to be expensive this time.

The 22-year-old bowled short and wide on the very first ball of the match and Rohit comfortably dispatched it to the point boundary.

Dhawan got going with a couple of delightful sixes. He flicked Perera over mid-wicket before sweeping Sachithra Senanayake in the following over for another maximum. There was no stopping Dhawan after that as he got to his maiden T20 International fifty in 22 balls.

Rohit did not mind watching Dhawan demolishing the opposition bowlers from the other and by the end of six overs, India had to raced to 70/0.

Sri Lanka badly needed a breakthrough and it was provided by pacer Dushmantha Chameera, who had Dhawan caught behind with a sharp and straight rising ball.

Ajinkya Rahane joined Rohit in the middle but suddenly the boundaries were hard to come by with spinner coming into play on a dry surface.

Rahane released the pressure by hitting consecutive fours off medium pacer Dasun Shanaka, one over mid off and the the came courtesy a deft touch past Rajitha fielding at short third man.

SCOREBOARD India: Rohit Sharma c & b Chameera 43, S. Dhawan c Chandimal b Chameera 51, A. Rahane c Dilshan b Senanayake 25, S. Raina c Chameera b Perera 30, H. Pandya c Gunathilaka b Perera 27, M.S. Dhoni (not out) 9, Yuvraj Singh c Senanayake b Perera 0, R. Jadeja (not out) 1. Extras (lb1, w9) 10. Total (for 6 wkts, in 20 overs) 196. FoW: 1-75, 2-122, 3-127, 4-186, 5-186, 6-186. Bowling: Rajitha 4-0-45-0 (2w), Perera 3-0-33-3 (4w), Senanayake 4-0-40-1, Chameera 4-0-38-2 (2w), Prasanna 3-0-21-0, Siriwardana 1-0-6-0, Shanaka 1-0-12-0.

Sri Lanka: M. Gunathilaka c Dhoni b Nehra 2, T. Dilshan st Dhoni b Ashwin 0, S. Prasanna c Yuvraj Singh b Nehra 1, L. Chandimal st Dhoni b Jadeja 31, C. Kapugedera c Pandya b Jadeja 32, T. Siriwardana not out 28, M. Shanaka c Raina b Ashwin 27, N. Perera c Rahane b Ashwin 0, S. Senanayake lbw b Bumrah 0, P. Chameera b Bumrah 0, C. Rajitha not out 3. Extras: (w 3) 3. Total (for 9 wkts, in 20 overs) 127 FoW: 1-2, 2-3, 3-16, 4-68, 5-68, 6-116, 7-117, 8-119, 9-119 Bowling: Ashwin 4-0-14-3 (1w), Nehra 3-0-26-2, Yuvraj 3-0-19-0, Jadeja 4-0-24-2, Raina 2-0-22-0, Bumrah 3-0-17-2 (1w), Pandya 1-0-5-0

Location: India, Jharkhand, Ranchi