IND vs SL 2021, 2nd T20I: Who won the India vs Sri Lanka match?
India lost the second T20I of the series against Sri Lanka by four wickets on Wednesday (July 28). However, the Indian cricket team would be proud of their performance. The visitors did not have nine players from their main squad available for the match. Still, they managed to take the game to the final over.
Sri Lanka won the toss and invited India to bat first. Skipper Shikhar Dhawan's 42-ball 40 helped the Men in Blue post a 132-run total on the board. Akila Dananjaya took two wickets for the islanders.
Chasing 133, the home team lost wickets at regular intervals. However, Dhananjaya de Silva's 34-ball 40 denied India a win. Kuldeep Yadav was the pick of the bowlers for India, with figures of 2/30.
Brief Scores: India 132/5 (Shikhar Dhawan 40, Devdutt Padikkal 29; Akila Dananjaya 2/29, Dasun Shanaka 1/14) lost to Sri Lanka 133/6 (Dhananjaya de Silva 40*, Minod Bhanuka 36; Kuldeep Yadav 2/30, Varun Chakravarthy 1/18) by 4 wickets.
Dhanajaya de Silva, Akila Dananjaya kept Sri Lanka alive in the T20I series against India
Team India took a 1-0 lead in the 3-match T20I series against Sri Lanka on Sunday. However, due to Krunal Pandya's positive COVID test, eight players who came in close contact with him were unavailable for the 2nd T20I.
Indian coach Rahul Dravid told the broadcaster in a pre-match interview that they had only 11 players to select and all were playing the match. Devdutt Padikkal, Nitish Rana, Chetan Sakariya and Ruturaj Gaikwad received their maiden T20I caps.
Skipper Shikhar Dhawan played the anchor's role in the Indian innings. Debutants Padikkal and Gaikwad got off to good starts, but they could not convert it into big scores. Sanju Samson and Nitish Rana failed to fire as Sri Lanka restricted India to 132/5 in the first innings.
In reply, Bhuvneshwar Kumar dismissed Avishka Fernando early. However, Minod Bhanuka held one end. He aggregated 36 runs off 31 deliveries to get his team close to the target.
The Indian spinners tried to turn the game in their side's favor by picking up some quick wickets. However, Dhananjaya de Silva's mature knock of 40 runs helped the islanders level the series. Chamika Karunaratne's cameo of 12 runs from six balls made Dhananjaya's job easier.
Who won the Man of the Match in the second T20I between India and Sri Lanka?
Dhananjaya de Silva was adjudged the Man of the Match for his match-winning innings of 40 runs. The Sri Lankan all-rounder hit one four and one six in his 34-ball knock.
In the first innings, de Silva bowled two economical overs, conceding 13 runs. He also took the catch that helped Sri Lanka dismiss Nitish Rana.