Mumbai batsman smashes unbeaten 44-ball 74 to star in India’s seven-wicket win against Sri Lanka to clinch T20I series
Shreyas Iyer during his 74 not out at Dharamsala on Saturday. Pic/AFP
Shreyas Iyer sizzled with an unbeaten 74 to help India thump Sri Lanka by seven wickets in the second T20I and thus win the series 2-0 here on Saturday.
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Put into bat, Sri Lanka scored 183-5. However, India, despite losing its openers early, provided a fitting reply. Shreyas first stitched an 84-run third-wicket stand with Sanju Samson (39) and a 58-run unbeaten partnership with Ravindra Jadeja (45 not out off 18 balls) to guide India’s chase.
Earlier, skipper Dasun Shanaka blazed away to an unbeaten 47 off a mere 19 balls after opener Pathum Nissanka top-scored with a 53-ball 75.
SL’s Pathum Nissanka plays a leg-side shot on Saturday. Pic/PTI
Having got himself in after his opening partner Danushka Gunathilaka (38 off 29 balls) laid the foundation, Nissanka cut loose and struck his runs at over 140. He found the fence 11 times until Bhuvneshwar Kumar got him on the final ball of the penultimate over.
However, Sri Lanka wouldn’t have got to what they eventually managed had it not been for Shanaka’s five massive sixes and two fours.
India’s new ball operators, Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Jasprit Bumrah got the white ball to swing in the first few overs, beat the bat and hit the pads with the latter losing one review after a huge shout for an lbw in the second over.
The Sri Lankan openers got their act together as the innings progressed with Danushka Gunathilaka, especially taking on the Indian bowling attack.
Gunathilaka’s, as well as Sri Lanka’s, first authoritative shot of the match came when he hit Bumrah though the covers in the third over.
The attacking left-handed opener pulled Harshal Patel for his second boundary, even as the Indians managed to keep things fairly quiet in the middle.
Pathum Nissanka welcomed Yuzvendra Chahal with a boundary, rocking back to cut the leg-spinner’s loosener through cover point region, but the visitors were still not able to get the run-rate they were looking for.
However, from a poor 32 for no loss after the six Powerplay overs, Sri Lanka got a move-on with Gunathilaka clobbering Jadeja for 18 runs in an eventful ninth over, which also saw the dismissal of the man in form.
Brief scores
Sri Lanka 183-5 in 20 overs (P Nissanka 75, D Shanaka 47*) lost to India 186-3 in 17.1 overs (S Iyer 74*, R Jadeja 45*; L Kumara 2-31) by 7 wickets
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