Colombo, Jul 20 (FN Bureau) Deepak Chahar’s fine all-round performance with both bat and ball helped India beat Sri Lanka by 3 wickets in the second ODI and take 2-0 unassailable lead in three-match series, here on Tuesday. Chasing a target of 276, openers Prithvi Shaw and Shikhar Dhawan gave India a blazing start, notching up 26 runs in the first two overs. But the stand didn’t last long as Wanindu Hasaranga dismissed Shaw on 13. Ishan Kishan then soon got he went for a booming drive against Kasun Rajitha, but only managed to inside-edge the ball onto the stumps.
Thereafter, the onus was now on India’s two most experienced campaigners – skipper Dhawan and Manish Pandey- to keep the visitors in the game. However, Dhawan could not repeat his exploits from the first match and was trapped LBW by Hasaranga for 29. Pandey and Suryakumar Yadav then established a 50-run stand, while adapting the aggressive approach to counter-attack the Lankan bowlers. Pandey though was unfortunate as he was run-out on the non-striker’s end. Hardik Pandya was then dismissed for a duck as India were left with their backs against the wall. Suryakumar and Krunal Pandya’s stand of 44 then kept the game alive for the visitors, before the former was dismissed after bringing up his half-century. Pandya was the next batsman to be dismissed on 35 after he got off to a good start. With seven wickets back in the shed, Sri Lanka were now looking confident of winning the match.
But, Deepak Chahar then took matters into his own hands and played a flurry of strokes to put the pressure back onto the Lankans. He was ably supported by Bhuvneshwar Kumar at the other end. Chahar brought up his maiden ODI half-century, as the match hung finely in the balance. He scored an unbeaten 69 and Bhuvneshwar Kumar chipped in with a handy 19* as the Sri Lankan bowlers were taken aback with the India fightback. In the last over, Deepak Chahar hit the winning runs with a big shot as visitors crossed the finishing line by reaching 277 for 7 in 49.1 overs.
Brief scores: Sri Lanka: 275/9 in 50 overs (Avishka Fernando 50, Charith Asalanka 65; Yuzvendra Chahal 3/50).
India: 277 for 7 in 49.1 overs (Suryakumar Yadav 53, Deepak Chahar 69 not out, Krunal Pandya 35; Wanindu Hasaranga 3/37).