India's series-clinching victory over Sri Lanka is scripted by Deepak Chahar.

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Wednesday, 21st July 2021

Deepak Chahar goes on to say that Rahul sir's belief in his batting ability pushed him to succeed.

Chahar and Bhuvneshwar Kumar (19 not out off 28) forged an undefeated 84-run partnership to seal a spectacular victory for the visitors, who extended their record of not losing an ODI on Sri Lankan soil since 2012.

A faltering Sri Lankan team really needed a morale-boosting victory, but only it has itself to blame for failing to complete the task from a dominating position.

Chahar, whose previous high score was 12, displayed great resolution and poise under duress to help his team cross the finish line with five balls to spare. He hit the winning boundary in style.

However, the majority of Indian batters made dubious shot selections, giving encouragement to their suffering opponents. The Indian batters, with the exception of Chahar and Suryakumar Yadav (53), struggled. Wanindu Hasaranga, a leg-spinner, worried the Indians with his variations and ended up being his team's standout bowler.

Prithvi Shaw and Ishan Kishan, who both blasted away the opponents in the first match on Sunday, both got out to weak shots early in the chase.

Shaw was bowled while going for a cut after picking the wrong one off Hasaranga. With three magnificent boundaries during his brief spell in the middle, the opener once again demonstrated sublime form before throwing it away.

Kishan tried to whack it through the off-side off pacer Kasun Rajitha with his feet nowhere near the bat, only to flick it on to the stumps, leaving India at 39 for two in four overs. For the second game in a succession, skipper Shikhar Dhawan (29 off 38) struggled with his fluency and was trapped in front by Hasaranga.

Manish Pandey (37) was unfortunate to be run out because of a deflection from the bowler's hand, while Hardik Pandya's hard-hitting straight to mid-wicket left India at 116 for five.

Suryakumar and Krunal put up a 44-run stand before Chahar came up with a game-winning wicket out of nowhere.

Yuzvendra Chahal, the leg-spinner, had earlier spearheaded India's decent bowling effort.

Similarly to the series opener, the majority of Sri Lankan batsmen had starts but were unable to capitalise when the hosts chose to bat.

Avishka Fernando (50 off 71) and Charith Asalanka (65 off 68) both scored half-centuries, but the hosts were unable to build a formidable total.

Chamika Karunaratne (44 not out off 33) provided another timely cameo to push the squad over the 270 mark.

Chahal (3/50) was the spinner of choice, with pacers Deepak Chahar (2/53) and Bhuvneshwar Kumar (3/54) also picking up wickets, owing to the home team batsmen's indiscipline.

Sri Lanka were reduced to 59 for loss in the first ten overs thanks to openers Fernando (50 off 71) and Minod Bhanuka (36 off 42).

After Chahal dismissed Minod and Bhanuka Rajapaksa off consecutive balls in the 14th over, the momentum turned dramatically in India's favour.

Sri Lanka, who are among the weakest middle-order batsmen in the world, battled once more in the key period of the game. After the eighth over, they needed 97 balls to find their next boundary.

Sri Lanka went from 77 for no loss in the 14th over to 134 for four in the 28th.

Asalanka and skipper Dasun Shanaka attempted to rescue the innings, but their 38-run stand came to an end when the captain was bowled by Chahal with a flatter delivery.

With a superb knuckle ball that smashed through Wanindu Hasaranga's defences, Chahar claimed his second wicket.

Along with Karunaratne, Asalanka played several aggressive strokes towards the end of the innings to give it some impetus.

With a lofted boundary over extra cover off Kuldeep Yadav, Asalanka reached his maiden fifty, before swiping the left-arm wrist spinner for another four in the same over.

Bhuvneshar bowled at a slower pace than normal, but he kept things tight.

The News Talkie Bureau

Source

The Hindu