Dhawan, spinners help India level series with a 69-run win

Much like Pune, Ranchi too turned out to be a one-sided game but with fortunes reversed. After the green of Pune, India found the conditions in Ranchi to be more 'at home'. They were helped further by Dinesh Chandimal's decision to bowl first on a much drier wicket at the JSCA Stadium in Ranchi on Friday (February 12). The difference in conditions was evident from the first ball of the match when Rohit Sharma carved Kasun Rajitha over point for a boundary. With the tone set high, the Indian openers maintained the tempo with a flurry of boundaries. Shikhar Dhawan took a few balls to get going but was in excellent touch and managed to gather boundaries in a cluster. His 21-ball 51 set the Indian innings up nicely and that coupled with a similarly rousing start with the ball paved the way for a convincing 69-run Indian victory in the second match of the series.

Dhawan and Rohit Sharma found that the pitch was to their liking early on in the innings with the ball not doing too much. It helped that they countered the spin of Sachitra Senanayake very well. Chandimal had to bring in the spinner in just the third over of the innings but it couldnt't prevent a good start. A similar move worked in complete contrast for India with R Ashwin striking off the first legal ball of the match. Tillakaratne Dilshan, brought in for Niroshan Dickwella, was one of the men marked out to lead the chase but he missed a slider from Ashwin and was out stumped. Sri Lanka sunk further when the move to promote Seekkuge Prasanna backfired with Nehra having him caught at mid off. The left-arm pacer was in rhythm and provided no respite early on. He had the other opener Gunathilaka edging behind in his second over to effectively stunt Sri Lanka's chase of 197.

Earlier Dhawan's excellent blitzkrieg allowed India period of lull after the left-hander was dismissed. Rohit and Rahane could not maintain the same run-rate but still managed to add 47 in just over six overs before Rohit came Dushmantha Chameera's second victim of the match. An excellent diving caught and bowled was the highlight of a good two-over spell from the pacer. He had earlier got Dhawan nicking behind and with the wicket of Rohit as well and was offering a little fightback. However, by that time India's run-rate was enough of a comfort to allow them to do some experimentation with their batting order, even though they were 0-1 down in the series.

Hardik Pandya (27) walked at No. 5, ahead of Mahendra Singh Dhoni and joined Suresh Raina (30) to give the Indian innings another flourish. The duo added 59 runs off 26 balls with Pandya using the long handle to excellent effort and making a mark for himself as a big-hitter. One of the targets for India in the series has been to provide opportunities to their core group of players. Pandya ticked one of those batting boxes with his show today. Raina eased himself into the role of a middle-order enforcer with a typical quick cameo. By the time the innings ended, Thisara Perera's hat-trick was firmly pushed to the sidelines. The medium-pacer got Pandya, Raina and Yuvraj Singh off consecutive deliveries in the 19th over but India had much more than they would require by then.

Once Ashwin and Nehra provided the early breakthroughs, Dhoni was in his elements by controlling the run-chase with a spin choke. Buoyed by the quick breakthroughs, the Indian fielding was up a touch as well with fielders willingly throwing themselves around on a sandy outfield. Chandimal (31) and Chamara Kapugedera (32) breathed some life back into the innings but it was quickly cut short by Jadeja's strikes. Dhoni, with a particularly outstanding stumping of Chandimal, gave his home crowd a bit to cheer about.

India would be happy with a lot of ticked boxes but one of their smaller concerns, at this stage, will be about Yuvraj not getting enough batting time. It is something that might be addressed in the upcoming games but that apart, the victory was a well-rounded one with contributions coming from everyone.

Sri Lanka were never really in the chase after the loss of those early wickets and although there were late blows from Milinda Siriwardana and Dasun Shanaka, they were found to be way short of firepower with the fuse blown early.

Brief score: India 196 for 6 in 20 overs (Shikhar Dhawan 51, Rohit Sharma 43; Thisara Perera 3-33) beat Sri Lanka 127 for 9 in 20 overs (R Ashwin 3-14) by 69 runs.