The hosts India claimed an easy seven-wicket victory (with 15 balls remaining) against Sri Lanka in the second T20I of the three-match T20I series at Indore on Tuesday (7th January) night.
After winning the toss, the Indian captain Virat Kohli decided to field first. The hosts restricted the visitors to 142/9 in 20 overs. In reply, the home team reached the target in 17.3 overs after losing three wickets (144/3).
Indian batsmen chased the target comfortably
Indian openers KL Rahul and Shikhar Dhawan provided a very good start with the 71 runs partnership for the opening wicket. While Rahul scored 45 runs, Dhawan followed him soon to the dressing room after scoring 32 runs in his comeback.
Shreyas Iyer and skipper Virat Kohli handled the next situations calmly as they provided the 51 runs partnership for the third wicket. When the team was just six runs away from the victory, Iyer lost his wicket on 34 runs. Two balls later of that wicket, India reached the target while Kohli was batting on 30 runs and the wicketkeeper-batsman Rishabh Pant was not out on a single.
Wanindu Hasaranga (2/30) took two wickets while Lahiru Kamara (1/30) scalped the other wicket during India’s innings.
Sri Lankan batsmen failed to showcase strong aggression
The Sri Lankan top-order batsmen got the starts but failed to capitalise those to the big scores. The top three batsmen reached the 20-run mark while the other batsmen failed to reach that mark. While the openers Danushka Gunathilaka scored 20 runs and Avishka Fernando played the knock of 22 runs, wicketkeeper-batsman Kusal Perera managed to score highest runs in that innings – 34 runs.
Among the Indian bowlers, the pacer Shardul Thakur (3/23) bagged three wickets while the left-arm chinaman Kuldeep Yadav (2/38) and the Player of the Match award-winning pacer Navdeep Saini (2/18) both bagged two wickets each. Also, another right-arm pacer Jasprit Bumrah took one wicket in his return while Washington Sundar was the first wicket-taker for India in this calendar year.
With this victory, India have taken the 1-0 lead in this three-match series with one to go. The last match of the series will be played on Friday (10th January) at Pune.
Here are some Twitter reactions of the match
7 wickets. And 15 balls to spare. One-sided. Exactly how you would expect an #IndvSL T20i to be. #Indore
— Aakash Chopra (@cricketaakash) January 7, 2020
Just how good is K L Rahul. A fine example of how technique can liberate a batsman…doesn’t necessarily slow you down. #IndvSL
— Aakash Chopra (@cricketaakash) January 7, 2020
So we saw Navdeep Saini bowl a 107 kph ball, a 135 kph ball, & yes the 147 kph ball! Wow! ???
— Sanjay Manjrekar (@sanjaymanjrekar) January 7, 2020
I can already feel the smile on the face of indian fans as well @RCBTweets fans seeing #navdeepsaini grow as a bowler #INDvSL
— Irfan Pathan (@IrfanPathan) January 7, 2020
Congrats Team India on the comprehensive win. Outstanding performance from the bowling unit on a placid wkt. Great to see the way Navdeep Saini is growing in confidence. #INDvSL
— VVS Laxman (@VVSLaxman281) January 7, 2020
All the key performances today came from India. My two moments to remember were Navdeep Saini's yorker at 147 kmph to Gunathilaka and Kohli's six to finish the game.
— Harsha Bhogle (@bhogleharsha) January 7, 2020
When you make the entire group project alone but everyone starts praising the other guy who did nothing. #INDvsSL pic.twitter.com/0Ul26chktL
— Ashish Ram (@ashishram25) January 7, 2020
A massive six of #shreyasiyer and a reaction of #viratkohli on that. #INDvsSL #indore pic.twitter.com/POVkNrB0zp
— Paul Phoenix (@DoYouKnowMate) January 7, 2020