INDIA Vs SRILANKA 2^nd T20:

The second T20 of Royalstag cup was played between India and Srilanka at Mohali on Saturday (12^th dec). The crowd there in the ground and the spectators in television would have enjoyed the run feast. Over 400 runs were scored in those 40 overs. The Srilankan skipper Kumar Sangakkara won the toss and elected to bat first.

Changes in the teams:

There were three changes in the Indian team. The injured Rohit Sharma gave way to the wicket keeper batsman Dinesh Karthik. The frontline spinner Pragyan Ojha and the seamer Ashok Dinda were dropped and all rounder Ravindra Jadeja and seamer Sudeep Tyagi were included in the playing eleven. There was only one change in the Srilankan side. The all rounder Pushpakumara was dropped and the all rounder Weerarathna was included in the side.

Srilankan batting:

As expected the specialist openers Dilshan and Jayasuriya opened the Srilankan batting. They started hitting from the first over. Dilshan lost his wicket in the second over and the Srilankan skipper came to the crease and carried his form by scoring some huge hits. Jayasuriya and Sangakkara built a solid partnership and  increased the run rate and thereby the Srilankan team gained momentum. They smashed almost all the deliveries to boundary. Even the good length balls were sent to the fence by their  marvelous footwork. Then the opener Jayasuriya (31)fell to the leg before appeal from Yusuf. Then Jayasinghe  joined hands with the skipper (Partnership of 30). And both these scored at a quick rate with their blistering knocks. And the skipper reached his half century (second in this series) in 29 balls. Then Sangakkara was dismissed by Yuvraj. Then Jayawardena, Kapugedera, Jayasinghe and Weerarathna fell in quick sucession. Then Mathews scored 26 runs in just 13 deliveries (with 2 sixes and 1 four) that he faced. Thus the Srilankans posted a score of 206/7 in their 20 overs.

Indian Bowling:

The Indian Seamers were target from the first delivery of the innings and the visitors succeeded in their attack. Nehra and Ishant Sharma went for runs.Being a debutant Tyagi was impressive though he conceded some runs. The slow bowlers  Yusuf Pathan, Raina, Yuvraj and Jadeja went for runs. But they bowled with a good intent. Though they went for runs they were economical compared to the fast bowlers. Yuvraj picked up 3 wickets. The another important reason for conceding some extra runs was the sloppy fielding by the men in blue. Lots of dropped catch, misfields resulted in such a Himalayan target. One of the best fielders in the Indian team Jadeja dropped a straight forward catch of Sangakkara in yusuf’s over. Then Gambhir, Nehra and Karthik dropped one catch each. And Jadeja missed a caught and bowled opportunity . Thus the Indians again had one of the worst days in the field both in bowling and fielding and hence they were expected to be sharp in their batting.

Indian Batting:

As the Men in blue had to chase such a huge target, they were aggressive from the first ball.  The experienced opening pair Sehwag and Ganbhir opened the Indian innings. First six of the Indian innings came from the bat of Virender Sehwag in the first over. He provided the kind of start that was expected from him. The running between the wickets was bad this time. This pair didn’t seem to have a good understanding this time. And hence Gambhir(21) was run out.. Then the skipper came to the crease and built a good partnership of 50 with Sehwag. Sehwag was fluent in his strokes and displayed a wonderful batting performance. He scored a lot of fours and sixes (7 fours and 3 sixes) and thereby scored a wonderful half century. Sehwag was then dismissed by Malinga in the 11th over at a score of 64(36 balls).The birthday boy, who was playing in his home crowd (Yuvraj) came to the crease. The skipper  M.S.Dhoni and  Yuvraj Singh joined hands and built a excellent and a match winning  partnership of 80 runs which came in just 36 balls.These two batsmen complemented each other with their marvelous hits. Then M.S.Dhoni lost his wicket when he was at 46 in 28 balls (3 fours and 2 sixes). But Yuvraj was unstoppable. He displayed a splendid performance both with the bat and with the ball. Then he had some partnership with Raina and karthik and scored the winning runs. He was not out till the end with a score of 60 runs in 25 balls (3 fours and 5 sixes) and finished the match by scoring 211/4 in 19.1 overs.

Srilankan Bowling:

Weerarathna started the proceedings for Srilanka. Weerarathna and Kulasekara went for runs. Malinga and Fernando were economical. Mathews also went for runs. The bowlers were not able to maintain the pressure. The Indian batsmen eased off their pressure by scoring either a four or six in each f the over. The fielders were not up to the mark. Jayasuriya , Kapugedera and Dilshan dropped catches ofSehwag, Dhoni and Yuvraj. And missed some 6 run out opportunities. Thus the sloppy fielding by the srilankans conceded some more runs and hence Indians were able to successfully chase 206 and they scored 211/4 in 19.1 overs.

The first 10 overs of Srilankan batting was dominated by the Srilankans and the rest of the game was dominated by India.Thus with their excellent batting performance India chased 206 and won the game. This was the highest successful run chase in T20 internationals.

• Written by V.Arunkumar .
• In category Cricket.
• 14 years ago.

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