Given his high pace and lack of accuracy, Malik can be expensive at times. But in the first T20I, he bowled hard lengths to pick up 2 for 27 from his four overs. One of those overs was at the death, where he tilted the game towards India with Dasun Shanaka’s wicket.
The duo’s performances meant the hosts took a 1-0 lead despite lapses in batting and fielding. At one stage, it looked like they would struggle to reach even 150 after being reduced to 94 for 5 in the 15th over. While defending, Sanju Samson dropped a catch, and their ground fielding was found wanting as well.
India WTWLW (last five completed T20Is, most recent first)
Sri Lanka LLWLL
India (probable): 1 Ishan Kishan (wk), 2 Shubman Gill, 3 Suryakumar Yadav, 4 Rahul Tripathi, 5 Hardik Pandya (capt), 6 Deepak Hooda, 7 Axar Patel, 8 Harshal Patel, 9 Shivam Mavi, 10 Arshdeep Singh/Umran Malik, 11 Yuzvendra Chahal
Sri Lanka may consider bringing in Lahiru Kumara for Kasun Rajitha, who went for 47 in his four wicketless overs in the first T20I.
Sri Lanka (probable): 1 Pathum Nissanka, 2 Kusal Mendis (wk), 3 Dhananjaya de Silva, 4 Charith Asalanka, 5 Bhanuka Rajapaksa, 6 Dasun Shanaka (capt), 7 Wanindu Hasaranga, 8 Chamika Karunaratne, 9 Maheesh Theekshana, 10 Kasun Rajitha/Lahiru Kumara, 11 Dilshan Madushanka
Unlike many other venues, teams batting first at the MCA stadium, across all T20s, have won more games than chasing teams: 34 vs 29. On a black-soil surface here, spinners have done slightly better than fast bowlers, their economy being 7.37 as compared to 7.97 for seamers. Once again, there is not much dew expected, with the temperature at night hovering around 18°C.