India were forced to make seven changes to the playing XI after nine players were ruled out due to issues related to Covid-19. Playing with a depleted team that included only four specialist batters, they went down fighting as Sri Lanka chased down 133 with four wickets and two balls to spare to register a series-levelling victory in the second T20I.
Minod Bhanuka (36 in 31 balls) and Dhananjaya de Silva (40* in 34) anchored the chase for against an some impressive bowling performance by the Indians. On a slow, sluggish wicket, run-scoring was not easy as Kuldeep Yadav (2-30) and Varun Chakravarthy (1-18) bowled terrific spells in the middle overs.
Much like the first game, Sri Lanka lost wickets at regular intervals right from the start. However, on this occasion India did not have enough runs to defend.
With 28 needed in the last three overs, Chamika Karunaratne (12* in 6) played a handy innings to put the pressure back on India. Eventually they ended up winning it to fix a series decider on Thursday.
Earlier, India had to isolate several first-choice players after Krunal Pandya tested positive the visitors. To field an XI, India had to play four uncapped cricketers – Ruturaj Gaikwad, Devdutt Padikkal, Nitish Rana and Chetan Sakariya.
Asked to bat by Dasun Shanaka, India were concerned about their lack of proper batsmen. The top-order batters were unable to play their natural game.
India got off to a steady start as Shikhar Dhawan and Gaikwad (21) put on 45 inside the Powerplay. The first-wicket stand of 49 finally came to an end in the final delivery of the seventh over, when as Gaikwad was dismissed by Shanaka. India never recovered.
Dhawan top-scored with 40 in 42 balls, while Padikkal scored 29, but none of them managed to score quickly. Sanju Samson (7) and Nitish Rana (9) failed to provide the finishing touches, and India had to satisfy themselves with only 132/5.
Every Sri Lankan spinner used the slowness of the surface to their advantage. Akila Dananjaya (2-29) and Wanindu Hasaranga (1-30) were exceptional.
Brief scores: India 132/5 in 20 overs (Shikhar Dhawan 40; Akila Dananjaya 2-29) lost to Sri Lanka 133/6 in 19.4 overs (Dhananjaya de Silva 40*; Kuldeep Yadav 2-30) by 4 wickets with 2 balls to spare. Player of the match: Dhananjaya de Silva.