Inexperienced Sri Lanka thrash Team India
Visitors beat Men in Blue by five wickets, lead T20 series 0-1.
Pune: Suresh Raina’s stunning catch, jumping from square leg, to dismiss Dasun Shanaka off Ravichandran Ashwin in the 17th over did raise hopes of an Indian victory but the bowlers left it too late. A second string Sri Lankan team stunned Team India by five wickets in the T20 opener here on Tuesday.
Chasing 102 for victory, Ashish Nehra provided a couple of breakthroughs initially but Dinesh Chandimal (35) and Chamara Kapugedara (25) held their ground to make it easy for the lower middle-order.
Earlier, the Indians were bundled out for 101 with seven balls to spare – a reality check for MS Dhoni and his men ahead of the ICC World T20.
Ashwin was India’s top scorer, unbeaten on 31.
The star of Sri Lanka was 22-year-old debutant Kasun Rajitha, who finished his four-over spell for three wickets conceding only 29 runs. Along with Shanaka (3-16), they ripped the Indian batting order on a green top – a heaven for pacers.
After put in to bat, the carnage began with the fall of two wickets in the first over.
Rohit Sharma, who had such a good outing in Australia, went for the text book cover drive but found Dushmantha Chameera at mid-on.
The Mumbai star batsman departed without troubling the scorers at all, giving Rajitha his first T20 wicket.
Shortly following Rohit was Ajinkya Rahane (4), who replaced Virat Kohli in this match. Rahane went across the line but miscued the ball completely, finding the leading edge that left Sri Lankan skipper Chandimal pick a simple catch at mid-on, much to the reception of an ecstatic Rajitha.
Rajitha along with the Sri Lankan pacers were spot on, and did not give away any room to any of the Indian batsmen. The only option left for the hosts was to take risks, which ultimately did not pay off.
None of the Indian top order fired.
Dhawan too didn’t find his mojo adding just 9 runs to the target after Rajitha proudly sent the Indian southpaw back to the pavilion.
Raina, who survived a couple of chances after being dropped early in the game, looked promising with an aggressive approach. But Shanaka’s in-swinging ball was too hot to handle for Raina, who departed for 20 runs, an innings that saw one boundary and a six each.
Indian skipper MS Dhoni and Yuvraj Singh left fans in disappointment. Shananka this time banged the ball hard, Dhoni tried to pull it but found the edge walking back for just 2 runs.
Yuvraj (10) too was a bit shaky in the middle. India’s 2011 World Cup hero departed after Dushmantha Chameera took a brilliant catch to get rid of the Indian all-rounder caught and bowled.
Sachithra Senanayake claimed a wicket of all-rounder Jadeja (6), trapping the Saurashtra player with a tossed delivery.
India were reeling at 54-6 after 10 overs but Ashwin proved to be the unlikely batting hero for India. Ashwin was at the top of his game timing the ball to perfection in his innings which was laced with five boundaries.
Ashwin’s heroics boosted him team’s target to 101, a score that can be competitive with the pitch assisting bowlers.