Xtra Time Web Desk: Hosts Sri Lanka managed to beat a depleted Indian side led by Shikhar Dhawan by 4 wickets in the 2nd T20I at the R Premadasa Stadium on Wednesday. The win keeps the three match series alive with the decider to be played on Thursday.
With the visitors missing nine players after Krunal Pandya tested positive, four players Devdutt Padikkal, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Nitish Rana and Chetan Sakariya made their T20I debuts. Batting first India posted a meager 132/5. The hosts in reply chased the target with two balls to spare. Dhananjaya de Silva played a perfect anchor role remaining not out on 40.
Bhuvneshwar Kumar (1/21 in 4 overs) was economical till Chamika Karunartne launched his full-toss for a six. The 12 runs from that over brought the equation down to 8 runs off final overs which was very difficult for debutant Chetan Sakariya to defend.
Kuldeep Yadav was the pick of the Indian bowlers with 2/30. The left arm chinaman bowler outfoxed opposition skipper Dasun Shanaka to get him stumped. Minod Bhanuka (36 off 31 balls) also tried to fetch a widish tossed up delivery outside the off-stump and holed out at deep mid-wicket. Varun Chakravarthy (1/18 in 4 overs) also was impressive.
Earlier, India struggled for momentum against the Sri Lankan spinners on a sluggish track, managing 132 for five. The degree of difficulty could be gauged by the fact that only seven boundaries and a six was hit in 20 overs with as many as 42 dot balls consumed by the Indian batsmen.
Shikhar Dhawan (40 off 2 balls) was the top scorer for India. Debutants Devdutt Padikkal (29 off 23 balls) and Ruturaj Gaikwad (21 off 18 balls) failed to capitalize the opportunity. Sanju Samson once again failed to live up to the expectation, scoring 7 off 13 balls before getting bowled against Akila Dananjaya.
With the series levelled at 1-1, both sides will meet against on Thursday for the decider.