Perera hat-trick in vain as India level T20 series

The 26-year-old paceman dismissed Hardik Pandya, Suresh Raina and Yuvraj Singh from successive deliveries before Sri Lanka, chasing 197 to clinch the series with a match to spare, were restricted to 127 for nine.

Perera hat-trick in vain as India level T20 series

(Reuters)





The run chase by the tourists got off to a terrible start with off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin (3-14) luring Tillakaratne Dilshan out of his crease with the first legitimate delivery and Mahendra Singh Dhoni removing the stumps in a flash.

Sri Lanka were then reeling at 16 for three before Dinesh Chandimal (31) and Chamara Kapugedera (32) staged a rally.

Milinda Siriwardana (28 not out) and Dasun Shanaka (27) also chipped in with useful knocks but they proved in vain in Dhoni's home town.

Smarting from their humbling in the series opener in Pune, India made an excellent start as openers Shikhar Dhawan (51) and Rohit Sharma (43) shared a quickfire stand of 75 in seven overs after Sri Lanka had opted to field.

Dhawan, who survived a strong lbw appeal early on, hit three successive fours in Kasun Rajitha's second over and took only 22 balls to race to his maiden international half-century in this format.

Dushmantha Chameera then had Dhawan caught behind before he took a brilliant diving catch off his own bowling after outfoxing Sharma with a slower delivery.

Boundaries temporarily dried up but, with five overs remaining, Pandya (27) hit spinner Sachithra Senanayake for back-to-back sixes and Raina (30) struck four boundaries in one Chameera over.

Perera then had Pandya caught at long on, Raina at backward square leg and the scoreless Yuvraj at long-on to become the fourth man to grab a Twenty20 international hat-trick, following Australian Brett Lee and New Zealanders Jacob Oram and Tim Southee.

Visakhapatnam stages the final match on Sunday.





(Reporting by Amlan Chakraborty in New Delhi; editing by Tony Jimenez)


Share

2 min read

Published

Updated

Source: Reuters


Share this with family and friends


Get SBS News daily and direct to your Inbox

Sign up now for the latest news from Australia and around the world direct to your inbox.

By subscribing, you agree to SBS’s terms of service and privacy policy including receiving email updates from SBS.

Download our apps
SBS News
SBS Audio
SBS On Demand

Listen to our podcasts
An overview of the day's top stories from SBS News
Interviews and feature reports from SBS News
Your daily ten minute finance and business news wrap with SBS Finance Editor Ricardo Gonçalves.
A daily five minute news wrap for English learners and people with disability
Get the latest with our News podcasts on your favourite podcast apps.

Watch on SBS
SBS World News

SBS World News

Take a global view with Australia's most comprehensive world news service
Watch the latest news videos from Australia and across the world