INDORE, Jan 7: India defeated Sri Lanka by seven wickets to win the 2nd T20I at the Holkar Stadium here on Tuesday. India eased past the target with 2.3 overs to spare. KL Rahul (45) and Shreyas Iyer (34) and Shikhar Dhawan (32) were the stars of the run-chase while skipper Virat Kohli remained unbeaten on 30.
Earlier, the Indian bowlers fired in unison on Jasprit Bumrah�s return to international cricket with Navdeep Saini shining bright as they restricted Sri Lanka to 142/9.
All eyes were on the returning Bumrah after India captain Virat Kohli decided to field first after his counterpart Lasith Malinga called wrong at the toss.
Bumrah, who has been out of action after India�s tour of the West Indies in July-August due to a stress fracture on his back, started off with a wide in the first ball of the match and was hit for a four in the second as he finished conceding seven runs.
Danushka Gunathilaka and Avishka Fernando hit boundaries off him in the fourth over as India�s premier pacer looked a bit rusty starting off but in the end bowled a superbly disguised slower one to castle Dasun Shanaka in the 17th over.
Bumrah was taken for 12 in the final over by Wanindu Hasaranga (16 not out) who hit a hat-trick of fours to end the innings with a flourish as the fast bowler returned with figures of 1/31 in his four overs.
Shardul Thakur (3/23) was the pick of the bowlers for the hosts but it was Saini (2/18) who impressed the most as Kuldeep Yadav (2/38) also picked up two wickets.
For the Lankans, Kusal Perera top-scored with a 28-ball 34 (3x6).
The Sri Lanka openers looked good against India�s pace trio of Bumrah, Shardul and Saini before Kohli went to Washington Sundar (1/29) and the spinner did the trick as Fernando (22) hit straight to mid off where Saini took a simple catch.
Sri Lanka raced to 48/1 after six overs but just as Gunathilaka was looking good as he thumped Shardul Thakur for a four down mid off in the sixth over, a Navdeep Saini thunderbolt at 147.5 kph beat him all ends up to rattle the stumps. He was gone for 20. � Agencies
SCORECARD
Sri lanka
Gunathilaka b Saini 20
Fernando c Saini b Sundar 22
Perera c Dhawan b Kuldeep 34
Fernando st Pant b Kuldeep Yadav 10
Rajapaksa c Pant b Saini 9
Shanaka b Bumrah 7
D de Silva c Dube b Thakur 17
P de Silva not out 16
Udana c Saini b Thakur 1
Malinga c Kuldeep b Thakur 0
Kumara not out 0
Extras: (b 1, lb 1, w 4) 6
Total: (For 9 wkts in 20 overs) 142
Fall of wickets: 1-38, 2-54, 3-82, 4-97, 5-104, 6-117, 7-128, 8-130, 9-130.
Bowling: Bumrah 4-0-32-1, Thakur 4-0-23-3, Saini 4-0-18-2, Sundar 4-0-29-1, Kuldeep 4-0-38-2.
India
Rahul b P de Silva 45
Dhawan lbw b P de Silva 32
Iyer c Shanaka b Kumara 34
V Kohli not out 30
Pant not out 1
Extras: (b 1, lb 1) 2
Total: (For 3 wkts 17.3 overs) 144
Fall of wickets: 1-71, 2-86, 3-137.
Bowling: Malinga 4-0-41-0, Kumara 3.3-0-30-1, D de Silva 2-0-15-0, Shanaka 4-0-26-0, P de Silva 4-0-30-2.
