Wanindu Hasaranga applauds after Rahul Chahar’s delivery outfoxed him

The Sri Lankan team were up against a challenging team in the second T20I in Colombo. They faced a must-win encounter at home and a defeat means that they would lose the T20I series. Earlier, the visitors won the first game by 38 runs and took a 1-0 lead in the series.

After that, all-rounder Krunal Pandya tested positive for the coronavirus pandemic. As a result, he has been ruled out of the T20I series. Apart from him, his eight close contacts were not allowed to participate in the rest of the series.

Although these eight players were tested negative, they were not allowed to play as a part of precautionary measures. As far as the second game is concerned, new players got a chance to express themselves.

Devdutt Padikkal, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Nitish Rana and Varun Chakravarthy were named in the playing XI. Batting first, India posted a paltry total of just 132/5 in their quota of 20 overs. Indian captain Shikhar Dhawan top-scored with 40 off 42 balls including 5 fours.

Devdutt Padikkal scored 29 off 23 balls including a four and a six. Akila Dananjaya took 2 wickets while Chameera, Wanindu Hasaranga and Shanaka took a wicket apiece. Sri Lanka executed their plans really well and reaped rewards.

Wanindu Hasaranga protects ‘Spirit of the Game’ against fiery Rahul Chahar

Sri Lanka struggled to find some rhythm in the run-chase as they kept losing wickets at regular intervals. They were reeling at 66/4 and the game slowly turned towards India’s favour. Sri Lanka’s wicketkeeper-batsman Minod Bhanuka scored 36 off 31 balls including 4 fours.

India’s chinaman bowler Kuldeep Yadav dismissed Minod in the 12th over. Wanindu Hasaranga looked good for his 15 off 11 balls including 2 fours. During the last ball of the 15th over, Rahul Chahar dismissed Hasaranga with a brilliant delivery.

In fact, Chahar surprised Hasaranga with a sensational turn. Hasaranga tried to play a shot but the ball spun heavily. Much to Hasaranga’s surprise, he ended up mistiming the ball in the first place. As it happened, Bhuvneshwar Kumar took a simple catch.

Rahul Chahar looked extremely animated as he performed a pumped-up celebration in the tense situation. Meanwhile, Hasaranga applauded the bowler for his superb delivery. The video of Hasaranga praising Chahar has gone viral on the internet.

Wanindu Hasaranga upholds the Spirit of the Game! 👏🏽

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Dhananjaya de Silva scored an unbeaten 40 off 34 balls including 1 four and a six and then guided Sri Lanka to a four-wicket victory. Sri Lanka chased down the target with 2 balls to spare.