India stamped some authority, got some revenge and showed a lot of class as MS Dhoni’s team equalised the T20 series against Sri Lanka in the second match in Ranchi.
The victory margin of 69 runs is the third biggest for the Indian team, in terms of runs.
Dhawan’s First Fifty
MS Dhoni lost the toss for a second match on the trot but was surprisingly put into bat by Dinesh Chandimal. Playing in their captain’s home ground, Shikhar Dhawan and Rohit Sharma got India off to a solid start.
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 pacer Perera over mid-wicket before sweeping spinner Sachithra Senanayake in the following over for another maximum. There was no stopping Dhawan after that as he got to his maiden fifty in 22 balls.
Perera’s Hat-Trick
In the 19th over, Thisara Perera got rid of Pandya, Raina and Yuvraj Singh in three consecutive balls to clinch a hat-trick. The first by a Sri Lankan. Only the fourth ever in T20I history.
Australian Brett Lee and the New Zealand duo of Jacob Oram and Tim Southee have also claimed hat-tricks in Twenty20 internationals.
Before Perera’s 3/33 Suresh Raina (30 off 19) and Hardik Pandya (27 off 12) hit the Lankan bowlers to all parts to help India near a big total. Eventually they finished their 20 overs with 196/6 on the board.
Sri Lanka’s Chase
The visitors made a mess of the steep chase by losing their first three wickets for 16 runs.
Star spinner Ravichandran Ashwin struck in the first legitimate ball of the innings with Dhoni pulling off a split second stumping to send back Tillakaratne Dilshan. Ashwin had started his spell with two wides.
Old horse Ashish Nehra had Seekkuge Prasanna on the very first ball of his opening spell before inducing an edge from opener Danushka Gunathilaka to leave Sri Lanka tottering.
Chamara Kapugedera (32) and captain Dinesh Chandimal (31) shared a brisk 52-run stand for the fourth wicket before Ravindra Jadeja got rid of them in successive balls to dash all hopes of a Sri Lankan comeback. Dhoni displayed another quickfire stumping to send Chandimal back in the dressing room.
After the skipper departed, Sri Lanka were 69/5 in 12 overs and needed 128 runs off 48 balls. The Indian bowlers went through the motions as Shanaka, Perera, Senanayake and Senanayake all failed to stage a fightback/
India eventually winning the match by 69 runs. Shikhar Dhawan named Man of the Match.
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