The ongoing 2nd T20I between India and Sri Lanka in Dharamsala started in style for the visitors. Apart from the picturesque view, the game brought the best couple of Lankan batters. Rohit forced Dasun Shanaka-led squad to bat first, hoping to get early breakthroughs. But, Pathum Nissanka and Danushka Gunathilaka proved India’s skipper wrong by outplaying Indian bowlers in the powerplay.
The duo added 67-runs before Gunathilaka lost his wicket to Venkatesh Iyer’s superb fielding. Earlier, experienced Bhuvneshwar Kumar and vice-captain Jasprit Bumrah provided an excellent start to India by conceding just 15-runs in the first four overs, it was Harshal Patel and Yuzvendar Chahal who were proven to be costly in successive overs. Patel, who came to bowl 5th over the match, conceded 10-runs comprising two boundaries and two singles.
While Chahal didn’t concede as many runs as Patel but conceded the 1st ball boundary to Nissanka, which eventually gave a chance to the batter to settle in. Nissanka and Danushka Gunathilaka started middling the bowl well and geared up their innings in no time. While Nissanka was playing many mature innings, D Gunathilaka took the lethal mode and targeted experienced Ravindra Jadeja in the 9th over of the match.
Jadeja, who was bowling 2nd over of his quota, conceded 16-runs in the first three balls of the over. When Gunathilaka looked lethal, Jadeja, widely known for clinching crucial breakthroughs, did the same. He dismissed in-form Gunathilaka on the fourth ball of the over courtesy after a forward diving catch from Venkatesh Iyer. Gunathilaka was departed after adding 38-runs in 29 balls.
Watch Gunathilaka’s aggressive shots here:
https://twitter.com/SportsHustle3/status/1497594742531833856
Watch the dismissal here:
https://twitter.com/SportsHustle3/status/1497584232742682625
However, Nissanka played brilliant innings of 75 in 53 balls while witnessing middle-order collapse. Asalanka (2 off 5), Kamil Mishara (1 off 4), and Dinesh Chandimal (9 off 10) got out cheaply before, Nissanka got solid assistance from skipper Shanaka (47 off 19), who accelerated Sri Lanka’s innings to post a competitive total of 183 in 20-overs.
