Indian skipper Hardik Pandya admitted his team made basic errors that they shouldn’t have after Sri Lanka registered a 16-run win in the second T20I at the Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium, Pune on Thursday to level the series 1-1. The visitors posted a par score of 206 runs on the board after Hardik Pandya won the toss and decided to bowl first.
Kusal Mendis gave a rollicking start to his team, smashing 52 runs off just 31 balls. Subsequently, Asalanka played a nice little cameo of 19-ball 37 in the middle whereas Dasun Shanaka scored the fastest T20I half-century for Sri Lanka in the shortest format of the game, reaching the 50-run mark off just 20 balls.
Meanwhile, India was poor with the ball as their bowlers bowled a total of seven no-balls and conceded 27 runs in free-hits, with comeback man Arshdeep Singh overstepping on five occasions.
In reply, India’s top order once again crumbled as they found themselves on the ropes at 57-5 after 9.1 overs. It was always going to be a herculean task for the home team to get over the line from that situation.
Axar Patel (65 off 31) and Suryakumar Yadav (51 off 36) tried their best to get their team close but they had too much to do in the end.
India was poor with the ball and their top order could not get them off to a good start. Ergo, these two factors went on to hurt the team in the end.
Hardik Pandya said in the post-match press conference, “Both bowling and batting – powerplay hurt us. We made basic errors which we shouldn’t do at this level. Learning should be the basics we can control. You can have a bad day but shouldn’t be going away from basics. In this situation, it’s very difficult. In past as well he’s bowled no-balls. It’s not about blaming but no ball is a crime. Surya had a fantastic run at four. Anyone who comes into the team – you want to give them a role they are comfortable in (talking about Rahul at three).”
The deciding T20I between these two teams will be played at the Saurashtra Cricket Association Stadium, Rajkot on Saturday.
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