Mohali, December 13: With the help of superb batting display by its batsmen, especially Virender Sehwag (64) and birthday boy and Man of the Match Yuvraj Singh (60), India has won the 2nd T20 against Sri Lanka to level the two match series by 1-1 with 5 balls to spare.
Yuvraj Singh and Captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni(46) partnered 80 runs off 36 balls for the third wicket paced the Indian win.
Chasing a mammoth target of 207 runs, India off to a flier thanks to Virender Sehwag who along with Gautam Gambhir took past India’s score to 50 in just 31 balls. Then comes Skipper M S Dhoni who failed to make an impact in the last game.
But this time he along with Virender Sehwag took past India’s score to 100 in just the 10th over. Sehwag completed his 2nd T20 half-century. But soon India lost its second wicket in the form of Virender Sehwag at the score of 108. After that Yuvraj took the charge and blasted Sri Lankan bowlers all round the ground.
Earlier, Kumara Sangakkara smashed a superb 59 off 31 balls as Sri Lanka piled on a massive total of 206 for seven.
The Sri Lankan captain hit eight fours and two sixes and also shared a crucial 81-run partnership with opener Sanath Jayasuriya (31) after the visitors opted to bat first.
Sangakkara, 32, hit Yuvraj Singh for a six to race to his fifth half-century in his 20th Twenty20 International before being caught by Ashish Nehra off Yuvraj.
The visitors lost an early wicket when Ishant Sharma bowled Tillakratne Dilshan (1) in the second over with a full and straight delivery.
Juat as in the first match, it was again the Indian fielders to be blamed for the huge total, as they missed so many opportunities.
Sangakkara was dropped on 28, when Ravinder Jadeja gave him a life off Pathan. Chinthaka Jayasinghe (38) was dropped twice before being caught by Jadeja off Yuvraj.
Birthday boy Yuvraj took three crucial wickets to give India some smilling moments, whereas Ishant Sharma took two wickets.
The runs were coming thick and fast and the Indian ground fielding wasn’t helping the home team either.
Jayawardene (12) had not even got his eyes when he was sent back into the dug-out after being caught by Sudip Tyagi off Sharma.
Angelo Mathews hit superb 26 off 13-ball to help his team stand tall against the hosts.
–Agencies