Watch cricket video highlights of India tour of Sri Lanka 2024 2nd T20I between Sri Lanka vs India. Venue of the match will be Pallekele.
Sri Lanka won the Women’s Asia Cup when Chamari Athapaththu and Harshitha Samarawickrama opposed India’s spinners at Dambulla. Later in the evening, in the second men’s T20I, India’s spinners trounced Sri Lanka at Pallakele, around 100 kilometers away. With one game remaining, Ravi Bishnoi, Axar Patel, and Riyan Parag combined for 12-0-86-5 to cause another collapse in Sri Lankan cricket and assist India in winning the three-match T20I series. Sri Lanka has lost 16 for 68 in the final six overs of the first two Twenty20 Internationals.
The need for spinners was so great that Axar bowled the final over of the first innings, when Sri Lanka could only manage 161 for 9, while part-time spinner Parag bowled his whole allotted overs. Rain interrupted Sri Lanka’s attempt to use their three spinners against India, which would have been their best chance to defend that poor total. They had strengthened their spin arsenal by substituting fast bowler Dilshan Madushanka for spinner Ramesh Mendis.
In India’s DLS-adjusted chase of 78 in eight overs, Maheesh Theekshana dismissed Sanju Samson for a duck, but Wanindu Hasaranga gave up 16 in his first over. Theekshana was then set up by Suryakumar Yadav for three straight fours, propelling India closer to victory. Yashasvi Jaiswal was out for 30 off 15 balls after Matheesha Pathirana removed Suryakumar for 26 off 12 balls, but Hardik Pandya made a cameo of his own to ensure that India’s new era began with a series victory.
Sri Lanka stormed out of the blocks after being selected to bat first, amassing 54 for 1 during the powerplay. Pathum Nissanka and Kusal Mendis had the right to push the ball up the top since it wasn’t swinging for Mohammed Siraj or Arshdeep Singh. Mendis had taken an on-pace seam-up ball from Arshdeep for four over mid-on, but he could only fumble it to the infielder when the left-arm seamer lost pace and bowled a cutter into the pitch. However, Kusal Perera and Nissanka continued to bat with great determination and ping the boundaries throughout the powerplay.
Perera fired short-arm punches reminiscent of Sanath Jayasuriya whenever the Indian bowlers strayed into his hips. When he sped to a half-century in 31 balls, Jayasuriya himself was cheering from the dugout. Rinku Singh, who slid at the edge of the square-leg boundary and ultimately parried the ball away for six, helped Perera attain the milestone. In the tenth over, after wristspinner Bishnoi had pulled a top-edged sweep with a legbreak, Rinku had also given Kusal a reprieve on 32. By then, Bishnoi had nailed Nissanka with a fizzing wrong’un, leg before wicket, for 32 off 24 balls.
India continued to use Axar and other four specialist bowlers, and they supported Hardik and Parag to split the role of fifth bowler. Parag produced a vicious spin and bounce after going 3 for 5 on Saturday. The broadcaster once displayed a chart that displayed the average turn that India’s spinners were able to accomplish. Compared to Axar’s 3 degrees and Bishnoi’s 1 degree, Parag had produced an average of 3.7 degrees of turn. Despite failing to pick up any wickets, Parag demonstrated his ability to handle the ball once more. He even let Hardik to be held back until the fourteenth over by Suryakumar.
At the very end, Bishnoi came back to bowl Dasun Shanaka and Hasaranga for ducks. By forcing Perera to hole out for 53 off 34 balls, Hardik did his part, and Rinku made amends by holding onto a superb catch. Similar to how he had done on Saturday when he gave the ball to Parag during this phase, Suryakumar mixed things up at the last second. Axar took the wickets of Theekshana and Ramesh on Sunday, conceding only eight runs in his third and sixth 20th overs in his T20I and T20 careers, respectively. Sri Lanka retreated from 130 for 2 to 161 for 9. It’s over for them.
Rain caused the game to start 45 minutes later than scheduled, returning three balls into India’s chase and leaving them to chase a rescheduled goal of 78 in eight overs. When Theekshana removed Samson with a skidder and then defeated Suryakumar’s outside edge with a carrom ball, Sri Lanka had a glimmer of hope. But Hasaranga found it difficult to hold onto the damp ball, as Jaiswal outplayed the legspinner. After the shower, the ball slipped onto the bat, and Suryakumar performed a number of sweeps before falling to Pathirana. With nine balls remaining, Hardik ended the pursuit and gave Hasaranga nursing figures of 2-0-34-1.
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