India beat Sri lanka by 39 runs

Pallekele: Virat Kohli’s fine half-century and Irfan Pathan’s opening spell helped India beat Sri Lanka by 39 runs in the one-off Twenty20 International played in Pallekelle.

The win came after India’s domination in the ODI series which they won 4-1.

It was a series Pathan (3/27) would never forget. It was a series which gave him a new lease of life. It has truly established him as an all-rounder. He got wickets and scored runs at crucial junctures. Most importantly, he got back his confidence as a bowler. He swung the ball well throughout the series. He continued his good show in this T20 match with the ball, claiming 3 wickets in his first three overs which ultimately broke the backbone of Sri Lankan batting.

He removed Dilshan in the very first over for a duck. His next victim was Upul Tharanga. But his most important prey was skipper Jayawardene, who was looking dangerous during his 26-run knock. The skipper had slammed 5 fours in his 19-ball knock.

With his loss, the fight seemed to go out of the Sri Lankan batting. Mathews did try his best, but Dinda had him caught behind off a widish delivery and Manoj Tiwary produced a brilliant pick-up and throw from point to run out Thisara Perera, the last post of attack.

The evening had started brightly for Sri Lanka under dark clouds, Gautam Gambhir falling to Shaminda Eranga, the debutant paceman, in his first over. Eranga thus became the first bowler to take a wicket in his first over in all three forms of the game internationally, but that was about the only joy Sri Lanka had as Kohli went into overdrive.

The boundaries flowed off his blade even as Ajinkya Rahane watched from the non-striker’s end, totally transfixed. Kohli hardly hit a shot in anger in the early part of his essay, relying on sheer timing, as he hit nine fours off his first 19 deliveries faced. Sri Lanka were clueless; reasonably decent deliveries were despatched to the fence with total nonchalance and the bad ones were punished ruthlessly as Kohli surged past his maiden T20I fifty, in just 32 deliveries.

Kohli totally dominated the second-wicket stand of 74 with Rahane, and when he was in full cry, India appeared headed for a total in the 180s. However, with the arrival of spin, things slowed down, and when Kohli fell to Eranga caught in the deep in trying to get a move on, India lost a bit of momentum.

Suresh Raina and Mahendra Singh Dhoni did throw their bats around, but the final push didn’t materialise. India had made 49 between overs 11 and 15; the last five yielded just 36, but that was almost immaterial, given the commanding authority with which victory was attained in the end. The victory took India from No. 7 to No. 4 in the International Cricket Council’s T20I rankings.