India vs Sri Lanka 2020: Lasith Malinga rues missing important bowler Isuru Udana
Sri Lanka were comprehensively beaten by India in the second T20I at the Holkar Stadium in Indore on Tuesday. After having put to bat first, the Sri Lankan batsmen got off to a decent start but lost their way in the middle overs. The Indian bowlers bowled well in the middle and also at the death, with Navdeep Saini and Shardul Thakur being the pick of the bowlers as they restricted Sri Lanka to just 142-9.
With India chasing just 143, Sri Lanka knew that they had to pick up early wickets to stand a chance of winning the game. Unfortunately, left-arm seamer Isuru Udana injured himself in the field and played no further part in the game. Sri Lankan skipper Lasith Malinga believed that this was a turning point for them as he was one of their strike bowlers.
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Malinga said at the post-match presentation ceremony,
“He’s (Udana) our main bowler and is very experienced in this format. He got injured just before we went out to bowl. He’s recovering now. We also need to give opportunities to the youngsters."
India easily chased down the targets with 15 balls to spare and seven wickets in hand. Malinga realized that Sri Lanka were way short of the par score on that wicket and with one bowler short, it was always India's game to lose. However, he applauded the efforts of the bowlers to take the game as deep as they could.
“We were around 25-30 runs short. We tried to bowl consistent line and length. The bowlers did well to drag the match till the 18th over.”
It remains to be seen if Sri Lanka manage to level the series by winning Friday's game at the Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium.