21 July,2021 09:50 AM IST | Colombo | ANI
India`s Deepak Chahar (R) and Bhuvneshwar Kumar gesture during the second one-day international (ODI) cricket match between Sri Lanka and India at the R.Premadasa Stadium in Colombo. Pic/AFP
After stitching a match-winning partnership with Deepak Chahar, Bhuvneshwar Kumar stated that the duo's aim was just to take the match till the last over against Sri Lanka.
Deepak Chahar (69') smashed a gusty fifty and shared an unbeaten 84-run stand with Bhuvneshwar Kumar (19') to take India home after the visitors were reduced to 193/7 in the second ODI. India were down and almost out in their chase but Chahar made sure India get home in the final over.
"Our aim was to play till the last over. We want to take it as deep as possible so we can score runs. There was not much planning, the only plan we had is to play till the last. The way Deepak batted was amazing," Bhuvneshwar Kumar told ANI in a post-match conference organised by BCCI.
India needed 16 runs to win in the last three overs and the duo ensured the visitors do not lose any wickets and then guided the Shikhar Dhawan-led side to win with five balls to spare. With this victory, India have taken an unassailable 2-0 series lead.
ALSO READ
IPL 2024 Final | "It's a different feeling": Bhuvneshwar Kumar on reaching final
IPL 2024 Qualifier 2: Battle of equals as Royals face Hyderabad at Chepauk
Head-Abhishek's unbeaten opening stand helps Hyderabad win by 10 wickets
IPL 2024, SRH vs LSG: Badoni, Pooran's late heroics take Lucknow to 165 vs HYD
‘Just two good balls’
Batting first, Sri Lanka was on 194/6 in the 40th over when Charith Asalanka revived the hosts' innings. Asalanka's fighting fifty kept Sri Lanka ticking the scoreboard as the hosts reached 244 before he got out.
In the last two overs, Sri Lanka scored 23 runs to reach 275 despite losing two wickets in the final six balls.
This win is also the first time India have successfully chased down a target of 250+ without any of the top three scoring 50+ since beating Zimbabwe in Auckland in WC 2015, chasing 288.
Also Read: Prithvi Shaw on Shikhar Dhawan: Opening together has made our bond stronger
This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed, agencies. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliability and data of the text. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever