The boundaries were short. The outfield was wet, making it tougher for bowlers to grip the ball. And the Holkar Stadium pitch was at its flattest.
Still, when Thisara Perera inserted India in to bat in the second Twenty20 international, he would have hoped for Sri Lanka to be chasing a 200+ target to keep the series alive. Instead, Rohit Sharma and K.L. Rahul tormented a lacklustre attack, in ideal conditions for batting, to seal the series with an emphatic opening partnership.
Rohit’s second T20I hundred — the joint-fastest in all T20Is, coming in just 35 balls — broke the backbone of the Lankan attack and Rahul’s rollicking 89 ensured the statisticians were kept busy. Despite Sri Lanka pulling things back at the death, picking four wickets in the last 10 balls, a gargantuan total of 260 for five was virtually going to be unassailable.
Upul Tharanga and Kusal Perera ensured Sri Lanka avoided a meek surrender like the one in Cuttack two nights earlier. Despite tallying 172 for nine — Angelo Mathews did not bat after limping out of the field while bowling the 12th over of India’s innings — the visiting team couldn’t prevent India from running away with the series.
The moment Rohit stood tall and lofted Mathews over mid-wicket for a front-foot pull off the fifth ball of the match, one sensed the captain was onto something special. And for the next hour or so, Rohit mauled the Lankan bowlers at the Holkar Stadium.
That set the tone for the next eight overs. When Akila Dananjaya’s unorthodox spin was introduced, he was sent packing over mid-off. Thisara was welcomed with a cut over point and Chathuranga de Silva with a drive and a cut off the first two balls he bowled. Asela Gunaratne’s only over saw Rohit following up successive boundaries with as many sixes.
If that was not enough, Thisara bore the brunt again as Rohit continued to dominate the battle of the leaders with four sixes in the 11th over to inch closer to a record hundred. ‘The Hitman’, who then equalled the fastest-hundred record with a disdainful cover drive off Mathews, took his helmet off and acknowledge a packed stadium that paid a compliment to him by flashing the light from mobile phones.
Once Rohit had reached the landmark, Rahul returned to the golf-hitting prowess he had shown plenty in the PowerPlay overs. Having been dropped by Sadeera Samarawickrama on 6, off Mathews in the third over, Rahul decided to keep hitting in the V. And the stylish opener clubbed virtually everything that was pitched fuller.
Had it not been for Niroshan Dickwella’s stunning catch — diving to his right to pouch a thick edge off Rahul’s willow — India could well have had two centurions in a T20I innings. Despite missing the landmark, Rahul had ensured India had taken the game out of Sri Lanka’s hands.
The Sri Lankan top-order then rectified its mistakes in Cuttack, with Tharanga playing the pacers well and Kusal going after Kuldeep Yadav early in the innings. The duo’s 109-run partnership for the second wicket kept Sri Lanka afloat in the game.
However, once Tharanga miscued a slog to offer Yuzvendra Chahal a skier off his own bowling in the 14th over, the middle-order crumbed against the wrist-spin duo.
Sri Lanka did not last the full quota for the second time in succession.
Fastest T20I hundreds
35 balls: Rohit Sharma (Ind) vs Sri Lanka, 2017
35: David Miller (RSA) vs Bangladesh, 2017
45: Richard Levi (RSA) vs New Zealand, 2012
46: Faf du Plessis (RSA) vs West Indies, 2015
46: K.L. Rahul (Ind) vs West Indies, 2016
47: Aaron Finch (Aus) vs England, 2013
47: Chris Gayle (WI) vs England, 2016
48: Evin Lewis (WI) vs India, 2016
49: Glenn Maxwell (Aus) vs Sri Lanka, 2016
50: Chris Gayle (WI) vs South Africa, 2007
