ICC World Twenty20 warm-up, India vs Sri Lanka highlights: Lasith Malinga takes 4 as Lanka seal 5-run win

India lost to Sri Lanka by 5 runs in their first warm-up match of ICC World Twenty20. Follow all the highlights, as they happen. (Match Scorecard | Text Commentary | Match report)

Post-match quotes:

 

MS Dhoni: The reason I didn't bat today was due to a niggle I had suffered two days ago on my right hand. That helped me to give chances to other batsman. Today's positive was Varun Aaron's bowling.

 

Yuvraj Singh, Suresh Raina and Mahela Jayawardena were impressive today while Ravichandran Ashwin was excellent with the ball as well as with the bat. The difference between the two sides was that India failed to match up with Sri Lanka's run-tally in the death overs. Lasith Malinga did the damage in the death overs as well.

 

Excellent match comes to an end and Sri Lanka have come out on top. Both the teams tried out their permutations and combinations and eventually, the Lankans turned out victorious but not before the match reached till the last ball of the over.

22:13 (IST) OUT! Malinga strikes again and SRI LANKA WIN BY 5 RUNS! He hurls down a toe crusher and Amit Mishra has no answer to it. Handshakes all over and an exciting match has come to an end.

22:11 (IST) WICKET! The Slinga has done in Ashwin! A low full toss, Ashwin tries to go over mid-wicket but gets it off the toe-end of the bat, goes towards mid-wicket where Kulasekara takes the catch.

22:08 (IST) WICKET! Binny is run out at a crucial time! A full length delivery, sliding into the pads, Ashwin fails to flick it and it goes through. Binny tries to get in.

22:06 (IST) FOUR! Great execution! Malinga follows the batsman but with a juicy full toss, Ashwin tucks it away with a leg-glance to the fine leg fence.

22:00 (IST) SIX! Oh, what a shot! A full length delivery just outside off, Ashwin gets right underneath it and smashes it down the long on fence.

21:54 (IST) FOUR! Powerful! A flat ball around off, Binny gets down on one knee and nails it past Nigel Llong to the fence. India 121/7 (17 overs), chasing 154.

21:49 (IST) WICKET! Jadeja's gone! India's task is now even tougher! A flighted ball on middle, Jadeja slogs it high up in the air and Senanayake settles under it at the deep mid-wicket fence.

21:40 (IST) WICKET! Gone caught behind! A very full ball outside off, Yuvraj tries to repeat the shot but ends up nicking it behind for Sangakkara to take it. India's task keeps getting tougher. India 115/6 after 16 overs.

21:32 (IST) WICKET! Malinga has his revenge! A very full ball outside off, Kohli wants to drive it through point but only manages to chop it on. End of a short innings from Kohli, which usually, never ever happens. India 88/5 (12.2 overs), chasing 154.

21:30 (IST) FOUR! Kohli's flick! All elegance! Gets underneath a full length ball and whips it over the mid-wicket fielder. India 88/4

21:28 (IST) SIX! There is the biggie! What a shot! Yuvraj Singh uses his feet down the track and with the minimal of follow-through, eases it over the long on fence. India 84/4 after 12 overs.

21:26 (IST) SIX! Wallop! A flighted delivery on middle, Virat Kohli uses his feet and goes inside-out over covers with the confidence of a king.

21:23 (IST) SIX! Yuvraj dances down the track to Rangana Herath and heaves it powerfully over the mid-wicket fence. India 69/4 (11 overs), chasing 154.

21:18 (IST) WICKET! Chipped straight back! A slightly short ball, Rahane was pretty much early into the shot and punched it straight back. Senanayake went to his right and took a fine catch. India 60/4 (10 overs) chasing 154.

21:14 (IST) WICKET! Raina's gone! Tries to take on the spinner yet again with a lofted shot but this time, he's picked out Rangana Herath at the long off fence. Raina made 41 and India lose their third for 54.

21:07 (IST) FOUR! Fine shot! A short ball on middle, Raina gets underneath that one from Thisara Perera and clears the fielder at the deep mid-wicket fence. India 39/2 after 7 overs.

21:02 (IST) DROPPED! Chandimal, the skipper puts it down! A flighted delivery, Raina charges down the track with a full-blown extra cover-drive, keeps it low and Chandimal flies to his right, only to put it down.

20:58 (IST) WICKET! Malinga has picked out his skipper, not his national side though! A full length delivery on middle, Rohit Sharma flicks it elegantly in the air but straight to deep square leg where Kusal Perera takes the catch. India 19/2 (4.2 overs)

20:55 (IST) SIX! Short balls are supposedly Raina's flaw but he's dealt with this well! A short ball on middle, Raina pulls it massively over mid-wicket.

 

20:50 (IST) FOUR! There is the Raina we know! A marginally full ball, Raina gets underneath it and lofts it sweetly, slightly inside-out over mid off.

20:45 (IST) WICKET! Kulasekara strikes with the new ball and that is not a surprise at all! A full length ball, wide outside off, Dhawan tries to take on mid off but ends up placing it straight into the hands of Thisara Perera. Suresh Raina is the new man in.

20:40 (IST) Rohit Sharma gets a chance to open alongside Shikhar Dhawan. Angelo Mathews to open the attack.

 

Kusal Perera started off well and so did Chandimal but they lost their wickets at the wrong time. Perera and Kulasekara added some blistering shots in the end to power Sri Lanka past 150. R Ashwin the best bowler for India with 3 for 22.

20:26 (IST) Sri Lanka post 153/6 in 20 overs. Last 5 overs cost 50 runs to India. 17 runs in the final over.

20:20 (IST) SIX! Nuwan Kulasekara goes for it and gets a six off Varun Aaron over long on! Sri Lanka 136/6 (19 overs).

20:12 (IST) WICKET! Excellent work from the skipper, Dhoni. Ashwin sees the batsman charging down and fires it down the leg side, Chandimal fails to get it away and Dhoni is quick to take the bails off. Chandimal out for 29 off 25.

20:08 (IST) SIX! Thisara Perera uses the long handle and hit Mishra for six over deep mid-wicket. Sri Lanka 117/5 (17 overs).

20:03 (IST) WICKET! Angelo Mathews is out caught brilliantly by Amit Mishra at short fine-leg off R Ashwin. Sri Lanka 103/5 after 15.4 overs. Mathews made 9 off 12. Out comes Thisara Perera.

19:58 (IST) SIX! Dinesh Chandimal goes for the big sweep and gets the maximum off Amit Mishra. Sri Lanka 102/4 (14.4 overs)

19:50 (IST) WICKET! Suresh Raina strikes with his first ball! Kumar Sangakkara (4 off 5b) goes for a aerial stroke but misses a straight ball, only to see his stumps shattered. Sri Lanka 77/4 (11.1 overs). Dinesh Chandimal joined by Angelo Mathews.

 

19:43 (IST) WICKET! A wicket next ball as Tilakaratne Dilshan is out LBW to R Ashwin. Returning from injury, Dilshan struggled in the middle with 9 runs off 20 balls. Ashwin bowled from round the stumps and Dilshan missed a flick shot. Sri Lanka 65/3 (9.1 overs)

19:40 (IST) WICKET! Mahela Jayawardene c&b Amit Mishra 30 (20b, 2x4s, 2x6s). Sri Lanka 65/2 (9 overs).

19:32 (IST) Mahela plays Jadeja well, employs the slog sweep and it goes over deep square-leg fence for the maximum. Sri Lanka 48/1 (7 overs).

19:23 (IST) Mahela Jayawardene shows his class. After getting a streaky four over wicket-keeper's head, he plays a delicate late cut off Mohd Shami for four through point. Sri Lanka 35/1 (5 overs).

19:16 (IST) WICKET! Perera falls to a brilliant two-handed diveing catch by Mohd Shami at mid-off. Varun Aaron strikes in his first over as Perera falls for 21.

19:11 (IST) - Kusal Perera attacks Bhuvneshwar, hammers him for back-to-back fours through the off side. Sri Lanka 23/0 ( 3 overs)

19:07 (IST) First four - Kusal Perera thrashes Mohd Shami for a boundary past cover point. Sri Lanka 12/0 after 2 overs.

19:00 (IST) Players making their way out in the middle. Bhuvneshwar Kumar to bowl to left-hander Kusal Perera.

18:57 (IST) Kapil Dev on television says, "With the slight dew already, it won't affect any team as both innings the dew involvement will be fair".

18:50 (IST) Suresh Raina before start of match: "I had a good time playing domestic one-day games at home. I know this is a big tournament for me. If I do well here, it will be good for my future. A total of 160 could be good to defend, especially if you have good spin bowlers."

18:41 (IST) Dhoni says Mohit Sharma misses out today as all the other players will get a chance to play today. Out of the 15 in the squad, any 11 players can bat and any 11 can field.

18:34 (IST) Toss time: MS Dhoni wins the toss and elects to field vs Sri Lanka, who are led by Dinesh Chandimal.

 

Match Preview

Their confidence at its lowest ebb after continuous failures, a beleaguered India would look to pick up the pieces and make a fresh start when they take on an upbeat Sri Lanka in their first warm-up game of the ICC World Twenty20 in Mirpur on Monday.

While the tournament proper will begin for India on March 21 against arch-rivals Pakistan, the two warm-up ties will provide captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni with a chance to sort out his playing combination before the real action begins.

The warm-up tie gives the team a chance to try out all 15 players in the squad. Therefore while all the batsmen can expect to get a hit in match situation, the bowlers will also get an opportunity to prove their worth to the skipper.

Also, the fact that Indian players, smarting from disastrous tours of South Africa and New Zealand besides the failed Asia Cup campaign, will be playing competitive T20 after five months will also help them adapt quickly having last played a T20 international in October against Australia.

The result of the match is of little consequence as various combinations are expected to be tried out. The most interesting aspect will be the opening combination in this format. Sikhar Dhawan and Rohit Sharma are a regular opening pair in ODIs. But Rohit's initial struggle against white kookaburra in the 50-over format is well documented. T20 would not give the Mumbaikar enough time to settle down.

Ajinkya Rahane, who has successfully opened for Rajasthan Royals in the Indian Premier League, might just partner Dhawan in such a scenario.

If the last match of the Asia Cup against Afghanistan is an indicator, then Rahane has a bright chance of opening the batting for India. Yuvraj Singh, one of India's proven match-winners, will be making a comeback along with Suresh Raina, who is also returning to the national team after being dumped from the Asia Cup squad on grounds of indifferent form.

But Raina has been one among India's better T20 batsmen -- the only one from the country to score an international T20 century. Skipper Dhoni, having recovered from a side strain, would like a couple of good knocks under his belt while Virat Kohli would also aim to get into the groove before Pakistan come calling.

The warm up match against Sri Lanka will certainly give both the left-handers the much needed confidence they had lost due to string of poor scores in earlier international matches. The likes of Ambati Rayudu and Stuart Binny will aim to keep their captain interested for a place in the side.

A quickfire 50 off 30 balls from Rayudu or a couple of wickets and a cameo from Binny might prompt the team management to think differently although they haven't shown any inclination towards being flexible with team combination.

"We might not have played a lot of T20 internationals but the IPL exposure will certainly help us. We need to play as a unit in order to do well," team's premier batsman Virat Kohli told the mediapersons during an open session at the team hotel on Saturday.

India's bowling certainly is their problem area in the slam-bang version of the game. India do not have bowlers who have enough variations to keep the batsman guessing in the last 10 of a T20 game. Mohammed Shami is India's strike bowler but he has proved to be quite expensive in the death overs as far as ODIs are concerned.

Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Mohit Sharma have also never been a problem for top-class international batsman. This brings the focus on Varun Aaron -- India's fastest bowler at the moment.

While there's no denying that Aaron has the pace, he is inconsistent and it has already been proved in the few IPL matches that he has played for the Delhi Daredevils

A lot will depend on how well Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja bowl on slowish tracks. With both being more than capable batsmen, they are an automatic choice in the playing XI. (Read full preview)

Teams (from):

India: Mahendra Singh Dhoni (captain), Varun Aaron, Stuart Binny, Shikhar Dhawan, Ravindra Jadeja, Virat Kohli, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Amit Mishra, Ajinkya Rahane, Ravichandran Ashwin, Suresh Raina, Mohammad Shami, Mohit Sharma, Rohit Sharma, Yuvraj Singh.

Sri Lanka: Dinesh Chandimal (captain), Tillakaratne Dilshan, Rangana Herath, Mahela Jayawardena, Nuwan Kulasekara, Suranga Lakmal, Lasith Malinga, Angelo Mathews, Ajantha Mendis, Kusal Perera, Thisara Perera, Seekkuge Prasanna, Kumar Sangakkara, Sachithra Senanayake, Lahiru Thirimanne

Match starts 7pm (IST)