Shreyas Iyer (74* in 44 balls), Ravindra Jadeja (45* in 18) and Sanju Samson (39 in 25) made a mockery of a target of 184 as India chased it down with 17 balls and seven wickets in hand against Sri Lanka on Saturday at Dharamsala to register their seventh successive T20I series win at home. This was also the 11th successive T20I triumph for the Indian team, one short the world record jointly held by Afghanistan and Romania.
India were rocked by the wickets of skipper Rohit Sharma and Ishan Kishan in the early stages of their chase. Rohit chopped one on to the stumps off Dushmantha Chameera in the first over, while Kishan looked like a fish out of water against the pace of Lahiru Kumara. A well-directed bouncer smashed Kishan on the helmet, and he gifted his wicket almost immediately.
However, Shreyas and Samson steadied the ship from 44/2 with a 84-run third wicket stand before Jadeja fast-tracked India's win with some lusty strokes. Shreyas smashed four sixes en route his career-best T20I score, Samson hit three, and Jadeja one.
The Sri Lankan bowlers got early movement upfront, but failed to capitalise despite the early breakthroughs. Their fielding also deteriorated. Some catches did not stick, as a result of which the bowlers felt the heat.
Earlier in the night, Rohit won an important toss and invited Sri Lanka to bat on under wet surroundings at the HPCA Stadium. The Indian new-ball bowlers, Jasprit Bumrah and Bhuvneshwar Kumar, got the new ball to swing, but the Sri Lankan openers got their acts together to take on the challenge.
Danushka Gunathilaka (38 off 29 balls) and Pathum Nissanka added 67 for the opening stand, but India struck at regular intervals after that. However, in the last five overs, captain Dasun Shanaka stole the show along with Nissanka, who top-scored with a 53-ball 75. Shanaka blazed away to an unbeaten 47 off 19 balls as Sri Lanka added 80 in their last five overs to post what seemed like a stiff target at that point.
The third and final match of the series will be played at the same venue on Sunday.
Sri Lanka 183/5 in 20 overs (Pathum Nissanka 75; Jasprit Bumrah 1-24) lost to India 186/3 in 17.1 overs (Shreyas Iyer 74*; Lahiru Kumara 2-31) by 7 wickets with 17 balls to spare. Player of the match: Shreyas Iyer.