India v SL 2nd T20I: Shanka leads from the front as Lanka pull one back

Sri Lanka pulled one back in the three-match T20I series against India with a 16 run win at the MCA Stadium in Pune to level the series 1-1 on Thursday night.

Earlier, after being asked to bat, Sri Lanka posted 206 for six in their 20 overs and in their response India finished on 190 for eight in 20 overs.

Sri Lanka started off brilliantly as their openers Pathum Nissanka and Kusal Mendis added 80 runs for the first wicket. Then there was a collapse as Sri Lanka slipped to 96 for three. Soon Dhananjaya de Silva was dismissed and then there was another collapse as Sri Lanka was reduced to 138 for six. Thereafter, skipper Dasun Shanaka went wild as he shared a 68 runs for the seventh wicket with Chamika Karunaratne. Shanaka remained unbeaten on 56 off 22 balls with two boundaries and six sixes. Sri Lanka finished on 206 for six in their 20 overs. For India gthe best bowlers were Umran Malik (3-48) and Axar Patel (2-24).

India lost their top-order cheaply. India lost wickets at regular intervals. The side was struggling at 57 for five in 9.1 overs. Then there was a revival of the chase as Suryakumar Yadav added 91 runs for the sixth wicket with Axar Patel. Yadav was dismissed for 51 off 36 balls with three boundaries and three sixes. Patel went beserk with the bat as he was finally dismissed in the 20th over for 65 off 31 balls with three boundaries and six sixes. India finally finished on 190 for eight in their 20 overs. For Sri Lanka the best bowlers were Shanaka (2-4), Kasun Rajitha (2-22) and Dilshan Madushanka (2-45).

The third and final T20I will be played on Saturday at Rajkot. 

Match Summary
Sri Lanka: 206-6 (20)
Fall of wickets: 1-80 (Kusal Mendis-8.2 ov), 2-83 (Bhanuka Rajapaksa-9.1 ov), 3-96 (Pathum Nissanka-11.3 ov), 4-110 (Dhananjaya de Silva-13.4 ov), 5-138 (Charith Asalanka-15.5 ov), 6-138 (Wanindu Hasaranga de Silva-15.6 ov)

India: 190-8 (20)
Fall of wickets: 1-12 (Ishan Kishan-1.1 ov), 2-21 (Shubman Gill-1.6 ov), 3-21 (Rahul Tripathi-2.1 ov), 4-34 (Hardik Pandya-4.4 ov), 5-57 (Deepak Hooda-9.1 ov), 6-148 (Suryakumar Yadav-15.5 ov), 7-189 (Axar Patel-19.3 ov), 8-190 (Shivam Mavi-19.6 ov)

Scorecard

Playing XIs
India: Ishan Kishan (wicket-keeper), Shubman Gill, Rahul Tripathi, Suryakumar Yadav, Hardik Pandya (captain), Deepak Hooda, Axar Patel, Umran Malik, Shivam Mavi, Yuzvendra Chahal, Arshdeep Singh

Sri Lanka: Kusal Mendis (wicket-keeper), Pathum Nissanka, Bhanuka Rajapaksa, Charith Asalanka, Dhananjaya de Silva, Dasun Shanaka (caotain), Wanindu Hasaranga, Chamika Karunaratne, Maheesh Theekshana, Kasun Rajitha, Dilshan Madushanka

Match Details
Toss: India, elected to field
Venue: MCA Stadium, Pune
Start time: 1230 hrs GMT
Match officials: Jayaraman Madanagopal, Nitin Menon (On-field Umpires); KN Ananthapadmanabhan (TV Umpire); Anil Chaudhary (Reserve Umpire); Javagal Srinath (Match-referee)