Colombo July 29 :A depleted Indian team, playing with only five batsmen, could not defend a modest target of 133 despite a valiant effort from its players as Sri Lanka kept the three-match series alive with a four-wicket victory in the second T20 International here on Wednesday.<\/p>\n
With nine players unavailable after Krunal Pandya tested positive, India had no option but to play with six specialist bowlers, including one pacer Navdeep Saini, who wasn’t even given a single over.<\/p>\n
Dhananjaya de Silva (40 not out) anchored a tricky Lankan chase after India scored 132 for five.<\/p>\n
The hosts won with two balls to spare.<\/p>\n
Vice-captain Bhuvneshwar Kumar (1\/21 in 4 overs) was economical till Chamika Karunartne launched his full-toss for a six. The 12 runs from that over brought the equation down to 8 runs off final overs which was very difficult for debutant Chetan Sakariya to defend.<\/p>\n
If one bowler despite figures of 2\/30 will be annoyed is Kuldeep, who was brilliant but was let down by his fielders, who dropped a couple of catches. Some poor effort in the outfield also spoilt his figures.<\/p>\n
Yadav outfoxed opposition skipper Dasun Shanaka by shortening the length of his stock delivery \u2014 the one that turns into the right-hander drawing him out and Sanju Samson affected a smart leg-side stumping.<\/p>\n
Minod Bhanuka (36 off 31 balls) also tried to fetch a widish tossed up delivery outside the off-stump and holed out at deep mid-wicket just after Bhuvneshwar had dropped one while running backwards when he skied one against the turn in the cover region.<\/p>\n
Varun Chakravarthy (1\/18 in 4 overs) also was impressive but the total became their undoing.<\/p>\n
Earlier, India struggled for momentum against the Sri Lankan spinners on a sluggish track, managing 132 for five.<\/p>\n
Debutant Devdutt Padikkal, though, in his brief innings gave a glimpse of a bright future.<\/p>\n
The degree of difficulty could be gauged by the fact that only seven boundaries and a six was hit in 20 overs with as many as 42 dot balls consumed by the visiting team batsmen.<\/p>\n
Skipper Shikhar Dhawan (40 off 2 balls) aware of a thin-on experience batting line-up had a cautious approach on a track where ball simply refused to come onto the bat and improvisation was the order of the day.<\/p>\n
With heavy rain slowing the outfield, run-making became an ordeal but young Padikkal (29 off 23 balls) was elegant as usual before a moment’s indiscretion did him in.<\/p>\n
The other much-anticipated debut of Ruturaj Gaikwad (21 off 18 balls) also ended in a whimper when a Sri Lankan captain Dasun Shanaka’s short ball climbed on him and he got himself in a tangle while playing a pull-shot that went straight-up after for Minod Bhanuka.<\/p>\n
Knowing that only five batsmen are playing on the day, Dhawan had to cut down on risky shots even though a cover drive, an on-drive and a slog-pull behind square were there among his five fours before off-spinner Dananjaya de Silva (2\/13) got him to play the slog-sweep.<\/p>\n
But the man who impressed the most was Padikkal, who slog-swept Dhanajaya de Silva for a six, ran well between the wickets during his 32-run stand with skipper Dhawan and brief one with Sanju Samson.<\/p>\n
He also reverse swept Wanindu Hasaranga (1\/30) for a boundary before a non-existent slog-sweep brought about his downfall.<\/p>\n
Some of his strokes didn’t reach the boundary but the Bengaluru boy showed that he has the temperament required for the highest level.<\/p>\n
But the player, who once again blew away an opportunity was Sanju Samson (7 off 13 balls). He was hoodwinked by a leg break from Akila Dananjaya (2\/29) and was bowled.<\/p>\n
Samson has now blown away nine chances in T20 Internationals and is unlikely to get too many more after Thursday’s final game.<\/p>\n