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Sri Lanka take an unassailable 2-0 lead in the 3-match T20I series

On Monday, the second T20I was played between Sri Lanka and Pakistan at Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore. The visitors defeated the hosts by 35 runs and took an unassailable 2-0 lead in this 3-match series.

While chasing the target of 183, Pakistani team got bundled out for 147 in 19 overs.

Earlier, after the winning the toss, Sri Lanka chose to bat first but their openers, Danushka Gunathilaka and Avishka Fernando lost their wickets cheaply, at the score of 15 and 8 respectively. But after that, Bhanuka Rajapaksa and Shehan Jayasuriya built a solid partnership of 94 runs in just 62 balls.

Rajapaksa made a well deserved half-century in the second match of his career. His score read 77 which included 4-fours and 6-sixes before getting caught on the bowling of Shadab Khan. Jayasuriya also batted well for his 34 runs in 28 balls before getting run-out. 

Rajapaksa scored a blistering half-century in his second T20I match     
Source : Yahoo News 

In the death overs, Dasun Shanaka gave the final touch and scored 27 runs in just 15 balls because of which, Sri Lanka set the target of 183 runs for Pakistan. Only Imad Wasim was able to restrict the run-flow by conceding only 27 runs in his four overs and also picked up the wicket of Gunathilaka. 

While chasing the target of 183, Pakistan's batsmen never looked in control during the whole match and their both openers, Babar Azam and Fakhar Zaman got out at the score of 3 and 6, respectively. 

After that, Sarfaraz Ahmed and Ahmed Shehzad tried to stabilize the inning. In the eighth over of the inning, Wanindu Hasaranga grabbed three wickets and changed the course of the match. Hasaranga took the wickets of Sarfaraz, Shehzad and Akmal and made a great comeback after conceding 13 runs in his first over. 

In eight overs, Pakistan's score read 52-5 and they still needed 131 runs in 12 overs. After that, Imad Wasim and Asif Ali tried hard to bring back their team in the contest and built a partnership of 75 runs in just 48 balls. 

But then Isuru Udana was brought back into the attack and he took the wicket of Imad Wasim to hamper Pakistan's chances of a win. In the course of 20 runs, Pakistan lost their five remaining wickets and got bundled out for 147. 

For Pakistan, Imad Wasim was the top-scorer, who made 47 runs in 29 balls and tried to give some hope to their supporters. For Sri Lanka, Nuwan Pradeep bagged his career best bowling figures of four for 25. Bhanuka Rajapaksa was given the Man of the Match award for his performance of 77 runs in 48 balls. 

The third & last T20I will be played on October 9 at the same venue. Although, the match will be a dead rubber as Sri Lanka has already won the series but both the teams will want to end their campaign with a win.

Featured Image Source : ESPNcricinfo

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