SL vs Ind, 2nd T20I: Dhawan scores 40 as India post below-par 132/5
Jul 28, 2021
Colombo [Sri Lanka], July 28 : Shikhar Dhawan top-scored with a knock of 40 runs as India posted 132/5 in the allotted twenty overs against Sri Lanka in the second T20I of the three-match series here at the R Premadasa Stadium on Wednesday.
Sent into bat first, India got off to a steady start as openers Shikhar Dhawan and Ruturaj Gaikwad put on 45 runs inside the first six overs. The first-wicket stand of 49 runs finally came to an end on the final delivery of the seventh over as Gaikwad (21) was sent back to the pavilion by Dasun Shanaka.
Devdutt Padikkal then joined Dhawan in the middle and both batters found it tough to rotate the strike. However, in the 11th over, Padikkal broke the shackles as he dispatched Dhananjaya de Silva for a massive six. However, the 32-run stand between these two batters finally ended in the 13th over as Akila Dananjaya clean bowled Dhawan (40), reducing India to 81/2.
In trying to look for a big shot, Padikkal (29) also perished in the 16th over, being clean bowled by Wanindu Hasaranga, reducing India to 99/3. Sanju Samson (7) also failed to leave a mark and India was struggling to post a respectable score on the board.
In the final overs, India struggled to register boundaries, and in the end, the visitors were restricted to under the run mark. For India, Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Navdeep Saini remained unbeaten on 13 and 1 respectively.
Brief Scores: India 132/5 (Shikhar Dhawan 40, Devdutt Padikkal 29, Akila Dananjaya 2-29) vs Sri Lanka.
