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India take an unassailable 2-0 lead in the three-T20I series with a comfortable seven-wicket victory at Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association Stadium, Dharamsala. Shreyas Iyer anchored the run chase with contributions from Sanju Samson and Ravindra Jadeja to get India over the line with 17 balls to spare.
Rohit's captaincy record
With an easy win, Rohit Sharma became the most successful captain in T20I cricket in home conditions going past Eoin Morgan and Kane Williamson. Rohit has led India to 16 T20I wins at home from 17 T20Is. Also, India have won their 11th T20I on the trot. If India win the final T20I on February 27 at the same venue, they will equal Afghanistan and Romania’s record of 12 T20I wins on the trot.
Fiery pace bowling
India’s run chase of 184 did not get off to an ideal start as they lost Rohit in the first over itself. Rohit played on and got out after scoring just a single. Dushmantha Chameera got Rohit’s wicket for the fifth time in the format, most by any bowler. Sri Lankan fast bowlers showed some sting with the new ball as Lahiru Kumara’s well-directed bouncer hit Ishan Kishan on the helmet. Kumara also got the wicket of Kishan in the final over of the powerplay overs.
Shreyas leads charge
Shreyas struggled at the start but then dominated Sri Lankan bowlers in the middle overs. The third wicket partnership with Samson helped India lay platform for the run chase. Samson struggled to play his shots but then broke free with three sixes off Kumara in the 13th over. However, Samson was undone by a fabulous athletic catch at first slip by Binura Fernando. He scored 39 runs from 25 deliveries and shared an 84-run partnership with Shreyas.
Jadeja wreaks havoc
Promoted to no.3 in Virat Kohli’s absence, Shreyas got to his half-century from 30 deliveries in 11th over with a six off Chamika Karunaratne. When Samson got out, Shreyas was batting at 64 off 36 deliveries. Jadeja came out to bat all guns blazing and punished Sri Lankan bowlers. He remained unbeaten for 45 off 18 deliveries including seven fours and one six. On the other end, Shreyas remained unbeaten for 74 off 44 deliveries, his highest in T20I cricket. He hit six fours and four sixes in his match-winning knock.
Lackluster batting
Earlier, Sri Lanka batted first with rain threat looming large on the T20I. Sri Lanka got off to a slow start with 32 runs in the powerplay overs. In the ninth over, Sri Lanka started to accelerate with Danushka Gunathilaka hitting Jadeja for 16 runs off three deliveries. However, Gunathilaka took it too far and lost his wicket off the fourth delivery. He scored 38 runs off 29 deliveries in the 67 runs of opening partnership. Sri Lanka’s middle order struggled again as after Charith Asalanka’s wicket, Kamila Mishara and Dinesh Chandimal got out for single-digit scores.
72 runs in last 4 overs
Pathum Nissanka found his partner in skipper Dasun Shanaka as the two shared a 48-run partnership for the fifth wicket. Nissanka got to his half-century in the 15th over of the innings. In the last four overs, the two batters broke free and hit Indian bowlers all around the park. Nissanka missed out on registering the highest score by a Sri Lankan batter against India in T20Is. The opener scored 75 runs from 53 deliveries including 11 fours before losing his wicket to Bhuvneshwar Kumara on the last delivery of penultimate over of the innings. Shanaka took Harshal Patel to the cleaners in the last over hitting him for two sixes and as many fours. The all-rounder remained unbeaten for 47 off 19 deliveries and helped his side post a challenging total of 183/5.
