Pallekele: Yashasvi Jaiswal and skipper Suryakumar Yadav displayed their wide array of strokes as India took an unassailable 2-0 lead, winning the rain-curtailed second Twenty20 International (T20I) against Sri Lanka by seven wickets with nine balls to spare here on Sunday.
Head coach Gautam Gambhir and new captain Suryakumar couldn't have asked for a better start to their new roles as the Indian team played like true T20 world champions outplaying Sri Lanka in all departments.
Despite Shubman Gill's absence due to neck spasm and a first-ball duck for Sanju Samson, Jaiswal (30 off 15 balls) and Suryakumar (26 off 12 balls) didn't break a sweat in their short but tricky chase of 78 in eight overs after another fine effort by bowlers had restricted Sri Lanka to 161/9.
Just when Maheesh Theekshana looked dangerous getting opener Sanju with a carrom ball and squaring up Surya with a doosra, the Mumbai duo decided to bring the sweep shot -- both conventional and reverse -- out of the closet.
The strategy was to not allow Theekshana and Wanindu Hasaranga's deliveries to deviate off the surface and create confusion.
Instead, the Indian batters used their reach to good effect and smother the turn. The two added 39 in 3.1 overs and by the time Surya and Jaiswal were dismissed, they had hit seven fours and three sixes between them.
It was left to Hardik Pandya (22 not out off 9 balls) and Rishabh Pant (2 not out) to complete the formalities in 6.3 overs and render the final match of the series on Tuesday inconsequential.
Earlier, Surya called right and his bowlers did a repeat act on successive days with the home team losing as many as seven wickets for 31 runs off their last 30 balls after being comfortably placed at 130/2 in 15 overs.
Despite scoring 80 in the first 10 overs and in a position to accelerate, Charith Asalanka's side lost its way, managing just 81 runs in the back-10 as Pandya's (2/23 in 2 overs) change of pace and Ravi Bishnoi's (3/26 in 4 overs) fast googlies did the trick.
Axar Patel and Arshdeep Singh also chipped in with two wickets each.
This was after Pathum Nissanka (32 off 24 balls) and veteran southpaw Kusal Perera (53 off 34 balls) had added 54 runs for the second wicket in six overs to set the platform only to find batters coming after them fritter it away.
As the Indian bowlers tightened the noose around the Lankan batters, the desperation to break the shackles saw the likes of all-rounders Dasun Shanaka (0) and Hasaranga (0) playing indiscreet shots.
From 130.2 in 15 overs, Sri Lanka suddenly had a middle-order collapse, second in as many days, where they lost four wickets in a space of 10 deliveries and never recovered.
