Sri Lanka beat depleted India by 4 wickets to keep series alive

    Colombo, Jul 28 (PTI) 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. <br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 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.<br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Dhananjaya de Silva (40 not out) anchored a tricky Lankan chase after India scored 132 for five. The hosts won with two balls to spare.<br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 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.<br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 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.<br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Yadav outfoxed opposition skipper Dasun Shanaka by shortening the length of his stock delivery -- the one that turns into the right-hander drawing him out and Sanju Samson effected a smart leg-side stumping.<br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 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.<br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Varun Chakravarthy (1/18 in 4 overs) also was impressive but the total became their undoing.<br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Earlier, India struggled for momentum against the Sri Lankan spinners on a sluggish track, managing 132 for five.<br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Debutant Devdutt Padikkal, though, in his brief innings gave a glimpse of a bright future.<br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 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. <br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 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.<br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 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.<br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 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.<br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 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.<br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 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.<br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; He also reverse swept Wanindu Hasaranga (1/30) for a boundary before a non-existent slog-sweep brought about his downfall. <br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Some of his strokes didn't reach the boundary but the Bengaluru boy showed that he has the temperament required for the highest level.<br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 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. <br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Samson has now blown away nine chances in T20 Internationals and is unlikely to get too many more after Thursday's final game. PTI KHS  KHS AT<br>AT

(This story has not been edited by THE WEEK and is auto-generated from PTI)