Sri Lanka Beats India By 4 Wickets, Level Series 1-1

Cricket Image for Sri Lanka Beats India By 4 Wickets, Level Series 1-1 (Image Source: Twitter)

Dhananjaya De Silva's unbeaten 40 takes Sri Lanka home as they chase down India's 132 in the final over of the 2nd T20I to level the three-match series 1-1. 

The run chase started slowly with Sri Lanka managing just 36 from the powerplay and losing the wicket of Avishka Fernando. Sadeera Samarwickrama couldn't do much as well, coming at number 3, and got out after scoring eight from 12. 

Bhuvneshwar Kumar becomes the 4th Indian after Ashwin, Bumrah and Chahal to reach 50 T20I wickets.
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The Indian spinners kept things tight as the Sri Lankan middle-order struggled to find boundaries. It was the partnership between Wanindu Hasaranga and Dhananjaya De Silva that gave momentum to Sri Lanka's run chase. 

de Silva and Chamika Karunaratne paired up to score the remaining 28 runs from 14 balls to finish off the run chase with two balls to spare. 

Earlier, India was put in to bat first on a slow pitch. The Indian openers started well, scoring 45 runs in the powerplay without losing any wicket. However, things got slow as soon as the spinners got introduced. Hasaranga and Akila Dhananjaya gridlocked the boundary rate as the Indian batters struggled. Shikhar Dhawan scored a chancy 40 off 42 balls before Dhananjaya bowled him. 

Debutants Devdutt Padikkal and Ruturaj Gaikwad contributed 29 and 21 runs, respectively, but Sanju Samson and Nitish Rana couldn't provide the finish India was expecting. 

Brief Score: 

India - 132/5 (Shikhar Dhawan - 40; Akila Dhananjaya - 2/29) 
Sri Lanka - 133/6 in 19.4 overs (Dhananjaya De Silva - 40*; Kuldeep Yadav - 2/32)