Colombo: Coach Rahul Dravid will be very happy with the performance of this young team India. India beat Sri Lanka by 2 wickets to register their 10th consecutive win in Sri Lanka. India have won the series 2-0. Indian lower order batsmen Deepak Chahar and Bhuvneshwar Kumar defended in the match that went in favor of Sri Lanka.
The way India chased down 263 in the previous game, it looked like India would easily chase a total of 276. However, this was not the case as captain Dasun Shanaka had a different plan for the second ODI. Despite the spirited performance of Lanka, he could not give the finishing touch with the ball.
Maiden International Fifty Four @deepak_chahar9! 👏 👏
What a nice knock this is! 👌 👌 #teamindia #SLvIND
follow the match https://t.co/HHeGcqGQXM pic.twitter.com/cfQLpIFIXx
— BCCI (@BCCI) 20 July 2021
Match Summary:
After winning the toss, Sri Lanka decided to bat first on a good wicket. The first wicket partnership of 77 runs was important for Sri Lanka, but the Indian bowlers made a good comeback by taking wickets consistently. The period between over no. 14 and 40 belonged to Indian bowlers. He took 7 wickets without conceding more runs.
Sri Lanka’s last 10 overs were good and they scored 71 runs thanks to some good hitting from Karunaratne. His 44 and Aslanka’s 65 helped Sri Lanka reach 275.
India had to chase 276 runs on a good batting pitch.
Unlike the first ODI, Shanaka introduced the spinners early in the innings. He took the wicket of leg-spinner Hasaranga the dangerous Prithvi Shaw and set the tone for the rest of the innings. He also took Shikhar Dhawan. Suryakumar Yadav scored a half-century in the middle order and shared some decent partnerships with Kunal Pandya and Manish Pandey, but nothing that would threaten the Lankans.
Hasaranga again came back into the attack and took the crucial wicket of Krunal Pandya. But then the two Indian fast bowlers Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Deepak Chahar put on a brilliant 84-run partnership and eventually sealed the game for India.
Chahar’s 69 was the main difference-maker. India has now won the series 2-0. Rahul Dravid – as Chahar revealed – thinks Deepak is “number 7 material”.
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