India steamroll Sri Lanka to seal sequence

Sri Lanka received moments, India received the match. The hosts clinched it by seven wickets with 17 balls remaining to annex the T20I sequence. The victory ultimately got here in a canter, Ravindra Jadeja blazing to 45 not out off 18 balls and Shreyas Iyer anchoring the chase with an unbeaten 74 in 44 deliveries. Against a frightening 183/5 posted by Sri Lanka, India’s high quality and depth ultimately shone by.

The vacationers will rue poor captaincy from Dasun Shanaka, his 19-ball 47 not out however, that allowed Iyer to develop into the sport. A extra proactive method and the Indian batsman most likely wouldn’t have lasted that lengthy to inflict damage on the Islanders. Sri Lanka had racked up 80 runs of their final 5 overs to present themselves an excellent likelihood in chilly Dharamsala, in situations that assisted quick bowlers upfront.

Then, Dushmantha Chameera and Lahiru Kumara cranked up pace to melt up the Indian prime order. Chameera castled Rohit Sharma, by way of an inside edge, the fifth time he had dismissed the opener on this format. Kumara hit Ishan Kishan on the helmet with a thunderbolt, making the left-hander edgy. This was when Shanaka ought to have gone on all-out assault. He had runs on the board to do this. With the ball transferring within the air, two slips have been the necessity of the hour. Just one slip was posted as an alternative.

So when Iyer outside-edged a Kumara supply, it went by the vacant second slip area for a 4. Iyer, as additionally Kishan, was wanting uncomfortable towards searing tempo and bounce to start out with. “They are going to get bouncier pitches in Australia (at the T20 World Cup),” Sunil Gavaskar quipped on air.

Shreyas Iyer is awarded Man of the Match for his match-winning knock of 74* off 44 deliveries 👏👏@Paytm #INDvSL pic.twitter.com/afaxCVClac

— BCCI (@BCCI) February 26, 2022

Credit to Iyer that he remained unflustered, embracing the khadoos mentality of Mumbai maidans. He needed to climate the storm and look ahead to the slower bowlers to come back into the assault. Shanaka but once more missed a trick by not giving Chameera an additional over with the brand new ball, bringing again Binura Fernando as an alternative. Iyer welcomed the medium pacer with three consecutive fours.

Kumara dismissed a visibly-shaken Kishan in his subsequent over and Sanju Samson at No. 4 made a nervy starting. A catch went down at deep backward sq. off Shanaka’s bowling when the Kerala batsman was on six. By then, nevertheless, Iyer had acquired into the groove.

Sri Lanka didn’t have enough bowling back-up to assist their two tearaway quicks. Praveen Jayawickrama’s left-arm spin was bread and butter to Iyer. Consecutive sixes off his bowling gave his innings the required momentum.

And but, after 10 overs, India have been taking part in catch-up, scoring at eight runs per over and observing an asking price of 10-plus. Iyer acquired to his second half-century on the spin and celebrated it with a contemptuous upper-cut to a brief ball from Shanaka.

Turning level

The sport, although, modified within the thirteenth over, when Kumara returned for his second spell and was flattened by Samson. The first ball went for a 4 adopted by three sixes, punctuated by a large and a dot. A 23-run over tilted the stability within the hosts’ favour. Still, the vacationers had an out of doors likelihood, after claiming Samson’s wicket off the ultimate ball of the over. But Jadeja slammed the door shut on them.

A six and three successive fours within the sixteenth over bowled by Chameera introduced victory to India’s doorstep. The means Jadeja used the crease to upset the bowlers’ size was the standout characteristic of his batting. After that, solely formalities remained. The third-wicket partnership between Iyer and Samson added 84 runs off 47 balls, whereas one other 58 runs have been placed on by an unbroken fourth-wicket stand between Iyer and Jadeja, off 26 deliveries. Partnership batting did the job for India.

That’s that from the 2nd T20I.

74* from @ShreyasIyer15, 39 from @IamSanjuSamson
and an excellent 18-ball 45* from @imjadeja as #StaffIndia seal the T20I sequence.

Scorecard – https://t.co/ImBxdhXjSc #INDvSL @Paytm pic.twitter.com/ELvnJ3RrgN

— BCCI (@BCCI) February 26, 2022

This was India’s fourth consecutive limited-overs sequence win below Sharma’s full-time cost. Also, he has now led India to 16 wins in 17 residence T20Is.

The skipper, although, centered on the larger image. “I think it was pleasing to see for us. The middle order coming out and performing is good; to see those guys taking the responsibility and finishing off games,” he mentioned on the post-match presentation.

Earlier, Sri Lanka confirmed intent by bringing on Danushka Gunathilaka and selling Charith Asalanka up the order, though the latter fell cheaply this time. After a cagey begin, Gunathilaka hit his first boundary within the third over and steadily began to up the ante.

Sri Lanka nonetheless had a reasonably poor Powerplay – 32 for no loss – and Jadeja’s second over was after they lastly shifted gears. Gunathilaka taking a few sixes and a 4 off the left-arm spinner was what the physician ordered at that stage, however the batsman couldn’t proceed with the onslaught, getting out to a superb catch from Venkatesh Iyer, making an attempt one other slog-sweep.

Pretty common cricketing intelligence hindered their progress within the center overs. Both Kamil Mishara and Dinesh Chandimal perished to Harshal Patel and Jasprit Bumrah respectively, taking part in with arduous arms, when the sector was set for slower deliveries.

After 16 overs, Sri Lanka have been 111/4 and one other below-par complete seemed on the playing cards. But Shanaka turned the innings on its head, laying into Patel and happening a six-hitting spree – 5 in complete. One of his sixes towards Patel was so large that it nearly performed peek-a-boo with Dhauladhar, the Himalayan vary which the picturesque stadium right here overlooks.

Pathum Nissanka grew to become daring sufficient to reverse-paddle a Bumrah supply previous quick third man for a 4. An analogous try towards Bhuvneshwar Kumar didn’t come off and he was out leg-before for a 53-ball 75.

The fifth-wicket partnership between Nissanka and Shanaka yielded 58 runs off 26 balls. But it didn’t matter ultimately.