India falter in their ICC World T20 warm-up tie losing by 5 runs to familiar foes Sri Lanka; Lasith Malinga picks up four wickets as MS Dhoni prefers not to bat in the match
Lasith Malinga celebrates the wicket of Virat Kohli with teammate Dinesh Chandimal yesterday. Pic/AFP
Mirpur: Indian team's batting woes continued in the familiar sub-continental conditions as they lost their opening warm-up tie of the ICC World T20 against Sri Lanka by five runs, here yesterday.
Lasith Malinga celebrates the wicket of Virat Kohli with teammate Dinesh Chandimal yesterday. Pic/AFP
Batting first, Sri Lanka scored 153 for six and then bowled out India for 148 in exactly 20 overs. Needing 12 off the last over bowled by Lasith Malinga, Indians could get only six as the Lankan slinger finished with figures of 4-30 from four overs.
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Skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni did not bat in this unofficial match. India's inability to finish a close match again came to the fore as the likes of Suresh Raina (41), Yuvraj Singh (33) and Virat Kohli (17) all failed to convert their starts. Ravichandran Ashwin's all-round show (3-22 and 19 runs) was the lone bright spot in the opening encounter.
A disastrous start
India were off to a disastrous start as Shikhar Dhawan (2) played a lazy shot off Kulasekara to be holed out at mid-off while Rohit Sharma (4) was caught at the deep mid-wicket boundary off a Malinga delivery.
Raina looked more comfortable on a low-bounce track as he played those customary lofted shots in the region between extra cover and mid-off. He also lofted Kulasekara for a six over mid-wicket.
He was looking good for a big knock as he reached 41 with the help of five fours and a six. But the 31st ball he faced saw him fail to reach to the pitch of the delivery.
Ajantha Mendis was the bowler and Raina couldn't clear Rangana Herath at long off boundary. Ajinkya Rahane offered a simple return catch to Sachitra Senanayeke as India were in deep trouble at 56 for four.
Earlier, Amit Mishra (1-38) got some stick but also bowled a few good balls while Suresh Raina (1-12) was lucky to get a wicket.
Nuwan Kulasekara with 21 off 14 balls and Thisara Perera with 18 from 11 deliveries added 30 runs in the last three overs to take the score past 150.
Among the pacers, Varun Aaron worked up good pace in his three overs to end with one for 18 as Mahela Jayawardene (30) and skipper Dinesh Chandimal (29) were the only ones in the top-order, who looked like scoring a few runs.
Scorecard
Sri Lanka
K Perera c Mohd Shami
b Aaron...............................21
T Dilshan lbw b Ashwin........9
M Jayawardene c & b Mishra.....................30
K Sangakkara b Raina..........4
D Chandimal st Dhoni
b Ashwin............................29
A Mathews c Mishra
b Ashwin..............................9
T Perera not out.................18
N Kulasekara not out..........21
Extras (b 1, lb 2, w 7, nb 2) 12
Total (6 wkts; 20 overs) 153
Fall of wickets 1-25, 2-65, 3-65, 4-77, 5-103, 6-119
Bowling
B Kumar 3-0-33-0
Mohd Shami 2-0-14-0
Varun Aaron 3-0-18-1
Ravindra Jadeja 2-0-13-0
R Ashwin 4-0-22-3
Amit Mishra 4-0-38-1
Suresh Raina 2-0-12-1
India
S Dhawan c T Perera
b Kulasekara.....................2
R Sharma c K Perera
b Malinga..........................4
S Raina c Herath b Mendis 41
Yuvraj Singh c Sangakkara
b Kulasekara.......................33
A Rahane c & b Senanayake.....................0
V Kohli b Malinga...............17
R Jadeja c Senanayake
b Herath..............................12
S Binny run out (Sangakkara)......................14
R Ashwin c Kulasekara b Malinga................19
B Kumar not out...................1
A Mishra b Malinga.............0
Extras (b 1, lb 1, w 2, nb 1)...5
Total (all out; 20 overs)...148
Fall of wickets 1-3, 2-19, 3-54, 4-56, 5-88, 6-111, 7-115, 8-147, 9-148
Bowling
Angelo Mathews 2-0-4-0
Nuwan Kulasekara 4-0-37-2
Lasith Malinga 4-0-30-4
S Senanayake 4-0-26-1
Thisara Perera 1-0-8-0
Ajantha Mendis 3-0-26-1
R Herath 2-0-15-1
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