The second T20 International, a three-match series between India and Sri Lanka, took place on July 28 at the R Premadasa Stadium in Colombo. In the last over, Sri Lanka tied the game at 1-1 with a four-wicket win. The decisive match of the series will be played on the field today. After Karnal Pandya’s Corona Positive, the sword began to swing in the remaining two games of the series. Eight Indian players who were closely associated with Karnal Pandya were left out of the rest of the series, so Team India came to play with four brand new players. Nitish Rana, It Turaj Gayakwad, Devadath Padikkal and Chetan Zakaria made their T20 international debut. Despite the defeat, captain Shikhar Dhawan has not been too disappointed with the performance of the team.
After the match, Dhawan said, “The wicket was very slow. We knew there were fewer batsmen in the team, so we had to play fast and move the innings forward. We were down 10-15. This made a difference in the outcome of the match. I am proud of my boys. The attitude of never giving up is great. I salute the guys for pulling the match up to the last over. India only scored 133 for Sri Lanka, but despite this, Sri Lanka could not easily win.
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Sri Lanka won the toss and decided to bowl again against India. Skipper Shikhar Dhawan played 40 innings, but for that he faced 42 deliveries. The innings began with Dhawan making his debut but was dismissed for 21 off 18 balls. Then Devadat Padikkal came in and scored 29 runs. Padikal faced 23 deliveries. Sanju Samson was again disappointed and dismissed for just 7 runs, while Nitish Rana did not go beyond 9. India were 132 for five in 20 overs. Akila Dhananjay took two wickets. In reply Sri Lanka won the match by scoring 133 runs for the loss of six wickets in 19.4 overs. Dhananjay de Silva returned unbeaten on 40 off 34 balls and became the man of the match award.
