Shreyas Iyer, Ravindra Jadeja help India recover from early setbacks

Dharamsala, Feb 26 (UNI) Shreyas Iyer’s unbeaten knock of 74 off 44 balls sealed India’s T20I series-clinching victory by seven wickets against Sri Lanka at the Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association Stadium (HPCA) here on Saturday. Along with Iyer, handy contributions from Ravindra Jadeja (45 not out of 18 balls) and Sanju Samson (39) ensured India take an unassailable 2-0 lead with one game left in the three-match series. India suffered an early blow while chasing a challenging 184-run target. Dushmantha Chameera struck for Sri Lanka in the first over as he dismissed Rohit Sharma cheaply for one. Ishan Kishan (16) could not carry his momentum from the first game. The left-hander was removed by Lahiru Kumara. Iyer along with Samson rebuild the innings with their quality stroke play. Samson looked in great form as he smashed three maximums and a couple of boundaries. Sri Lanka’s agony was escalated as Iyer and Jadeja took them to the cleaners and comfortably took India home with 17 balls remaining. Earlier, Pathum Nissanka (75 off 53 balls) and Dasun Shanaka (19-ball 47 not out) powered Sri Lanka to 183/5 after being put in to bat first. Sri Lanka got off to a decent start, with Nissanka and Danushka Gunathilaka stitching a 67-run opening partnership. With conditions favoring swing, the visitors passed the powerplay test without any loss of wicket. Gunathilaka smashed Ravindra Jadeja for two maximums and a boundary before the left-arm spinner got the much-needed breakthrough for India. Jadeja snared Gunathilaka (38) and the Sri Lankan was caught by Venkatesh Iyer at long-on. A flurry of wickets put Sri Lanka on the back foot but not for too long. Nissanka found the support from the other end in his skipper Shanaka. The duo stepped on the accelerator at the right time, with Harshal Patel conceding 19 runs in the 17th over. Bhuvneshwar Kumar finally got rid of Nissanka, who was trapped in front on the last ball of the penultimate over. Towards the end, two back-to back maximums from Shanaka swelled Sri Lanka’s total even further. Brief scores: Sri Lanka 183/5 in 20 overs (Pathum Nissanka 75, Dasun Shanaka 47 not out; Jasprit Bumrah 1/24) lost to India 186/3 in 17.1 overs (Shreyas Iyer 74 not out, Ravindra Jadeja 45 not out; Lahiru Kumara 2/31) by 7 wickets.