Nidahas Trophy: Perera helps Sri Lanka win
Day Highlights:
- SL won by 5 wickets
- They made 175-5
- Perera top scored with 66
India’s young guns failed to stop the firing Kusal Perera who came out all guns blazing in the first T20 of the three-nation Nidahas Trophy. Chasing 174, Perera lead the Sri Lankan chase to guide the hosts to a 5 wickets win to register the first points on the board for the Lankans. India faces Bangladesh next and will be looking to put in a better performance and register their first win in the tournament.
With emergency being declared in Sri Lanka due to fighting between two different religious sects, the match was under doubt to go through. However, it finally went on much to the joy of the cricket crazy fans in the nation who had thronged out in huge numbers to watch their team take on India. After having suffered the entire previous season at the hands of India, losing series after series and being thrashed by India in both their backyard and in India, the Sri Lankan team came out looking for revenge. The Sri Lankan bowlers came out smelling blood and ended up nabbing opener and skipper Rohit Sharma for a duck and Suresh Raina for 1 to restrict the Indians to just 38-2 from the power play. Shikhar Dhawan once again stepped up for India and him along with Manish Pandey helped steady the innings and saw India past 100 without a further hiccup. Dhawan’s swish buckler innings of 90 off just 49 balls saw him hit 6 fours and 6 sixes as he took on the Lankan bowlers. However, his departure once again slowed down the Indian innings which finally came to an end at 174 off 20 overs.
Chasing a decent target, Sri Lanka set the tone for the match right from the first over. Their batsmen went all out as they demolished the young and inexperienced Indian bowlers. Despite the two quick wickets, Perera’s onslaught was too tough to handle for the Indians. He hit all around the park to ensure that Sri Lanka reached the target with plenty of time left.
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