Low scoring matches often tend to end in a thrilling way and Wednesday’s encounter between Sri Lanka and India was no dif♓ferent. Till the time Indian spinners were into the attack, the game seemed to be out of the hands of Sri Lanka, but they made a strong come back in the last few overs to seal a win against the depleted Men in Blue.
India’s debutants – Ruturaj Gaikwad, Devdutt Padikkal, Nitish Raj and Chetan Sakariya – failed to impress, more so with the bat. Also, Shikhar Dhawan & Co. seemed more bothered with the sluggish nature of♉ the pitch, although there was some poor shot selection as well.
For Sri Lanka, Dhananjaya de Silva scored 40 not out off 34 balls while wicketkeeper-batsman Minod Bhanuka smashed 36 offཧ 31 deliveries to help the hosts in chasing the 133-run target with four wickets in hand.
Earlier, Sri Lanka won the toss and opted to bowl first. Captain Shikhar top-scored for India with a 42-ball 40 as the visitors posted 132 runs on the board for the loss of five wickets. Ruturaj scored 21 off 18 balls whil💛e Padikkal made a 23-ba෴ll 29.
Brief scores: India 132-5 in 20 overs (Shikhar Dhawan 40; Akila Dananjay🉐a 2/29) lost to Sri Lanka 133/6 in 19.4 overs (Dhananjaya de Silva 40 not out; Kuldeep Yadav 2/30) by four wickets.
Here’s how Twitter reacted:
Phew… Series is alive .. well done lads
— Russel Arnold (@RusselArnold69)
Good win for our ﷽young team. A dedicated bunch of players and a successful future is certain. Beating India is always good and the series is alive. This is going to be interesting!
— Jeevan Mendis (@jeevanmendis)
Desp♎ite the loss, we can still be proud of the fighting spirit Indian team showed today. They almost defen🐈ded a small target.
— R P Singh रुद्र प्रताप सिंह (@rpsingh)
sri lanka have done what australia couldn't…beat an indian team made up of essentially the only men left standing on the tour
— Gaurav Kalra (@gauravkalra75)
Well Done boys & well batted , Chamika much needed win for 🇱🇰
One more win for Series…
Go for it Guys 👍👍— Dimuth Karunarathna (@IamDimuth)
Absolute relief for Sri Lanka! It was the sheer brilliance of🐎 Dananjaya, Hasa꧋ranga and that man Chamika Karunaratne that got them over the line. Congratulations to them.
— Roshan Abeysinghe (@RoshanCricket)
Maybe Kuldeep could have been given more confidence and opportunities by the Indian (Main) Tꦓeam Management.♓ A spinner needs the backing to bring the best out of his skill
— Vikrant Gupta (@vikrantgupta73)
Sanju Samson has failed to impress in T20Is 🅷so far.
— betvisa68.com (@CricketTimesHQ)
Sri Lanka eke out hard fought win against a weak Indian side. Bowlers did their best, but 132 meagre score to defend even on a sluggish pitch. With only 5 batsmen in the side, India’s hopes reste✨d on top order for runs. Samson, Padikkal, Gaekwad, Rana spurned opportunity
— Cricketwallah (@cricketwallah)
Almost pulled off a victory with these many players missing. Indian cricket's depth is at an all-time high.
— Saurabh Somani (@saurabh_42)
