Cricket is indeed a funny game and a great leveller. You can be hero one day and the very next day you may be reduced to dust. A similar thing happened with Sri Lanka in the second T20 international played in Ranchi today. The wicket was absolutely opposite to the Pune pitch.
While the Pune pitch was a green top, the Ranchi wicket was a flat wicket with absolutely no grass on it. It was a batting paradise. However the outfield was not in great condition, it was not a lush green outfield because of the draught in Jharkhand.
Sri Lanka won the toss and asked India to bat first. Rohit Sharma hit the first ball for a boundary and after that it was all Shikhar Dhawan and Rohit Sharma show. Shikhar Dhawan hit a ball for a six, attempting a similar stroke Dhawan was caught at third man in the previous match. However today this did not happen as the ball did not swing at all.
In the first 6 overs Indians were able to maintain a run-rate of above 11 runs an over. India did not lose any wicket in the first six overs. The first wicket to fall was the wicket of Dhawan,he scored 51 of 25 balls. The new batsman Rahane scored runs at a decent rate while Rohit hit the ball all around. Rohit was out after making 43 from 36 balls.
He was followed by Raina who joined in the run feast. He scored a brisk 30 of 19 balls. After the fall of Rohit's wicket, Dhoni took a strange decision, instead of bringing himself or Yuvraj to the crease, he sent Pandya. Well, Dhoni's faith in Pandya was not misplaced. The youngster batted beautifully and scored a whirlwind 27 runs of 12 balls he faced. He hit two sixes and a boundary in his innings.
The Sri Lankan bowlers were looking helpless but in the 18th over Thisara Periera managed to get a hattrick. The wicket taking deliveries were not extraordinary but the batsmen were trying to score fast and in that process they ended up giving their wickets away. By the end of the 20th over India had scored a mammoth 196/6. It was an excellent total.
When India came in to bowl captain Dhoni took another surprising decision. He gave the new white ball to Ashwin. It was a great decision as Ashwin managed to get danger man Dilshan stumped when he faced his first ball. It was just the second ball of the Sri Lankan innings. Nehra bowled from the other side and managed to get a wicket in his first over.
Three out of the first six overs during which field restrictions applied were bowled by Ashwin. He bowled economically. In the first 6 overs Sri Lanka managed to amass only 37 runs after losing 3 wickets. The Srilankans were having problems in scoring, after a brief partnership between Kapugedra and Chandimal, Kapugedra got out when the Sri Lankan total was just 68 in the 12th over. The Sri Lankans hardly made any impact with the bat. They scored at a slow rate and kept losing wickets regularly, the match ended with Sri Lanka managing a mere 127/9 of 20 overs. Ashwin picked up 3 wickets while Bhumrah, Nehra and Jadeja picked up two wickets each.
After the debacle in the first match, it was heartening to see India win by a massive 69 runs. Let's hope that they perform equally well in the next match scheduled on Valentine's day.
While the Pune pitch was a green top, the Ranchi wicket was a flat wicket with absolutely no grass on it. It was a batting paradise. However the outfield was not in great condition, it was not a lush green outfield because of the draught in Jharkhand.
Sri Lanka won the toss and asked India to bat first. Rohit Sharma hit the first ball for a boundary and after that it was all Shikhar Dhawan and Rohit Sharma show. Shikhar Dhawan hit a ball for a six, attempting a similar stroke Dhawan was caught at third man in the previous match. However today this did not happen as the ball did not swing at all.
In the first 6 overs Indians were able to maintain a run-rate of above 11 runs an over. India did not lose any wicket in the first six overs. The first wicket to fall was the wicket of Dhawan,he scored 51 of 25 balls. The new batsman Rahane scored runs at a decent rate while Rohit hit the ball all around. Rohit was out after making 43 from 36 balls.
He was followed by Raina who joined in the run feast. He scored a brisk 30 of 19 balls. After the fall of Rohit's wicket, Dhoni took a strange decision, instead of bringing himself or Yuvraj to the crease, he sent Pandya. Well, Dhoni's faith in Pandya was not misplaced. The youngster batted beautifully and scored a whirlwind 27 runs of 12 balls he faced. He hit two sixes and a boundary in his innings.
The Sri Lankan bowlers were looking helpless but in the 18th over Thisara Periera managed to get a hattrick. The wicket taking deliveries were not extraordinary but the batsmen were trying to score fast and in that process they ended up giving their wickets away. By the end of the 20th over India had scored a mammoth 196/6. It was an excellent total.
When India came in to bowl captain Dhoni took another surprising decision. He gave the new white ball to Ashwin. It was a great decision as Ashwin managed to get danger man Dilshan stumped when he faced his first ball. It was just the second ball of the Sri Lankan innings. Nehra bowled from the other side and managed to get a wicket in his first over.
Three out of the first six overs during which field restrictions applied were bowled by Ashwin. He bowled economically. In the first 6 overs Sri Lanka managed to amass only 37 runs after losing 3 wickets. The Srilankans were having problems in scoring, after a brief partnership between Kapugedra and Chandimal, Kapugedra got out when the Sri Lankan total was just 68 in the 12th over. The Sri Lankans hardly made any impact with the bat. They scored at a slow rate and kept losing wickets regularly, the match ended with Sri Lanka managing a mere 127/9 of 20 overs. Ashwin picked up 3 wickets while Bhumrah, Nehra and Jadeja picked up two wickets each.
After the debacle in the first match, it was heartening to see India win by a massive 69 runs. Let's hope that they perform equally well in the next match scheduled on Valentine's day.
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