India vs Sri Lanka Man of the Match today: Team India have won their third consecutive T20I series under new skipper Rohit Sharma.
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During the second T20I of the ongoing Sri Lanka’s tour of India at the HPCA stadium in Dharamsala, team India made mockery of a challenging total posted by Sri Lanka to win the encounter by 7 wickets.
Chasing 183/5 posted by Sri Lanka after Rohit Sharma invited them to bat first, India chased down the target with 17 balls to spare to go 2-0 up and take an unassailable lead in the 3-match series.
Team India’s innings, however, began on a poor note after Dushmantha Chameera dismissed Rohit Sharma (1 off 2) in the very first Over. Ishan Kishan (16 off 15) too, unlike the first T20I, failed to provide fluency to his innings and was dismissed by pacer Lahiru Kumara, handing the simplest of catches to Dasun Shanaka at mid-on.
It was all about the Indian batters from here on. Shreyas Iyer (74* off 44) played a gem of an innings at No.3, and went on to smash yet another fifty in consecutive innings. He, alongside Sanju Samson (39 off 25) stitched together an 84-run partnership for the 3rd wicket and then a quickfire 58-run stand off 26 deliveries with Ravindra Jadeja (45 off 18) for the 4th wicket to register an emphatic win.
India vs Sri Lanka Man of the Match today
Shreyas Iyer, for his aggressive innings of 74* (44) studded with 6 Fours and 4 Sixes, and for being part of a couple of half-century stands was deservedly awarded the ‘Player of the Match’ during the post-match ceremony.
“It was really important for me to time the ball because it was swinging and seaming. Sanju came in and we built a crucial partnership. Jaddu bhai came in and it was a cruise. I realised that the ball was not turning and thought stepping out would be a good option. Even if I mistime it on this ground, the ball would go to the boundary,” remarked Iyer post receiving the award.
Earlier, on the back of a 58-run partnership off mere 26 deliveries for the 5th wicket between skipper Dasun Shanaka (47* off 19) and opener Pathum Nissanka (75 off 53), Sri Lanka posted a challenging total of 183/5 in 20 Overs.
In fact, Shanaka, courtesy his 5 massive sixes, smashed 23 runs off the final Over bowled by Harshal Patel, and as many as 72 runs off the last 4 Overs alongside Nissanka to at least better their performance unlike the previous T20I.
