India eye series win in Vizag

Visakhapatnam, February 13

A resilient India would look to continue the momentum and seal off their second successive T20I series win when they take on Sri Lanka in the third and final T20 International here tomorrow.

India shrugged off their embarrassing defeat in the opening match in Pune with a commanding show in Ranchi, where they outclassed the island nation by 69 runs to level the series.

The Indian batsmen had struggled to cope with the 'green' track in Pune but adjusted well on a slow strip at Ranchi.

The bowlers, too, were in complete control, never letting the Sri Lankan batsmen dominate. Moreover, MS Dhoni's captaincy was impressive and all his experiments, be it reshuffling the batting order or bowling tactics, paid off. India not only mastered the conditions but also executed their plans to perfection. The flying start that openers Shikhar Dhawan and Rohit Sharma provided India, gave Dhoni a chance to experiment with the batting order.

The move to send Hardik Pandya ahead of himself and Yuvraj Singh worked well as the young batsman came up with a fiery cameo.

However, Yuvraj Singh, who came in to bat at No. 7, did not get enough time and was out for a duck. It will be good if the elegant left-hander gets some time to spend in the middle before the next month's World T20.

Dhoni has conceded that it will be difficult to send him up the order since the top-four are doing extremely well but showed intent of giving Yuvraj more chances to bat for longer period. — PTI

World Cup record against India at the back of our mind, says Pakistan coach Waqar 

Karachi: Pakistan’s head coach Waqar Younis is confident that his new-look team would be able to break the jinx of not winning against India in the major ICC events when they lock horns in the World T20. Pakistan play India first in the Asia Cup in Dhaka on February 27, and then on March 19 in Dharamsala in the World T20. They could also clash in the knockout stages of the two tournaments. “Yes, it is at the back of the mind that we don’t seem to do well against India in the big events, especially the ICC World Cups. We have a young team and in familiar conditions they can upset any team if they play consistently well,” Younis said. The former fast bowler said India would pose a serious challenge to Pakistan in the coming events because they have a settled T20 squad. “It will depend on the pitches we encounter in these two events but India is a well-balanced side and I am preparing the players for tough matches,” he said. Younis was the coach when India beat Pakistan in the 2011 World Cup semifinals in Mohali and then again in the 2015 World Cup opener in Australia. — PTI

4 Matches India have won out of the five completed games in Vishakhapatnam

3/33 Thisara Perera’s best T20I figures after taking a hat-trick off his last three balls of the innings in Ranchi

Live on Star Sports 7.30pm