India cruised to an easy 7 wicket win over Sri Lanka in the 2nd T20I match played at Holkar Stadium, Indore on Tuesday.
Virat Kohli won the toss and decided to field first. Sri Lankan openers Avishka Fernando and Danushka Gunathilka played with positive intent against Bumrah, Shardul Thakur, Washington Sundar and Navdeep Saini. Washington Sundar provided the breakthrough for India dismissing Fernando for 22 off 16 balls. At the end of six overs, Sri Lanka were 48 for 1.
After the power play overs, Navdeep Saini produced a beauty of yorker to get rid of Gunathilka for 20. Kusal Perera looked in aggressive touch. Navdeep Saini, Kuldeep Yadav kept the Sri Lankan batsmen under check and picked wickets at regular interval. Shardul Thakur bowled a brilliant 19th over picking 3 wickets. Despite Bumrah going for 3 successive boundaries, India restricted to a below par total of 142 for 9 in 20 overs.
Chasing 143 runs to win, KL Rahul continued his sensational form that he displayed during the West Indies series. On the other hand, Shikhar Dhawan was looking rusty with his stroke play. At the end of six overs, India were 54 for 0.
After the power play overs, KL Rahul tried to play a big shot and was dismissed by Hasaranga for 46 off 32 balls. Rahul and Dhawan added 71 runs for opening wicket. Shreyas Iyer who was promoted to number 3, looked confident with his stroke play. Dhawan was dismissed by Hasaranga with a review by Sri Lanka. The umpire gave it not out and on review the decision was reversed to out. The Indian captain Virat Kohli came to the crease and created an impact straight away. Iyer showed his class with some classy strokes against Hasaranga. In attempt to finish the match, Iyer was caught for 34 off 26 balls. Iyer and Kohli added 51 runs for the 3rd wicket.
Virat Kohli hit the winning shot smashing Kumara for a six to help Team India register a 7 wicket win with 15 balls to spare.
Navdeep Saini has been named as the man of the match for his 2 for 18. He bowled with pace and dismissed 2 top Sri Lankan batsmen.
India 144 for 3 in 17.3 overs ( KL Rahul 46, Kohli 30*, Shreyas Iyer 34, Hasaranga 2/30) beat Sri Lanka 142 for 9 in 20 overs ( Kusal Perera 34, Avishka Fernando 22, Shardul Thakur 3/23, Navdeep Saini 2/18) by 7 wickets.
India takes a 1-0 lead in the 3 match T20I series. The third and final T20I match will be played at MCA Stadium, Pune on 10th January.
