A disciplined Indian attack proved too good for the struggling Sri Lankans, reducing the visitors to a below-par 142 for nine in the second T20 International here on Tuesday.
On a good batting surface, the inexperienced Sri Lanka batsmen squandered promising starts. Their job was made harder by Navdeep Saini (2/18), Shardul Thakur (3/23) and Kuldeep Yadav (2/38), who shared seven wickets among themselves.
Coming from a four-month injury lay-off, lead pacer Jasprit Bumrah did not look at his best, ending with figures of one for 32 in four overs, the most expensive after Kuldeep.
In a rare occurrence, death overs expert Bumrah conceded three back-to-back boundaries in the 20th over. Kusal Perera top-scored for Sri Lanka with an entertaining 34 off 28 balls.
Both teams went in with the same eleven that was picked for the abandoned series opener in Guwahati.
Sri Lanka made a decent start after Virat Kohli opted to chase on a batting beauty, reaching 48 for one in six overs.
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The brisk start was provided by Avishka Fernando (22 off 16), who got off the blocks with a delightful cover drive off a juicy half-volley from Bumrah. It was the first legitimate ball Bumrah bowled in his comeback game after starting with a wide.
Bumrah, playing his first game in more than four months, bowled his two overs in the Powerplay from different ends, giving away 16 runs.
The initial spell saw Bumrah generating decent pace and he mixed things up with his usual slower ones. He removed Dasun Shanaka with a slower ball in his third over before conceding runs in the 20th.
Opener Fernando looked all class in the middle until he threw it away.
After driving Bumrah, Fernando hit Navdeep Saini on the up for another boundary through the cover, revealing the trueness of the surface. Danushka Gunathilaka (20 off 21), too, looked good at the other end, but just like Fernando, he also departed after getting set.
Fernando was caught at mid-off in Washington Sundar's first over before Saini cleaned up left-hander Gunathilaka with a fast yorker, something the Delhi pacer has been doing really well.
Kuldeep, too, struck in his opening after Oshada Fernando (10 off 9) failed to pick his googly, leaving Sri Lanka at 82 for three in the 12th over.
Kuldeep got rid of the dangerous Perera in his next over. After reverse sweeping the left-spinner for a six, Perera tried to clear the straight boundary but was caught by Shikhar Dhawan at long-on.
The visitors kept losing wickets at regular intervals which did not allow them to put up a competitive total.