It seems that it was a day of brothers, earlier in the day, two Hussey brothers helped Australia to beat New Zealand and level the series and in the late evening, the power hittings from two Pathan brothers- Irfan and Yusuf helped India to register a thrilling three wickets victory over the Sri Lankan in twenty20 international in Colombo.
Earlier Sri Lankan Captain Dilshan won the toss and decided to bat first.
Captain Tillakaratne Dilshan's 61 off 47 deliveries had helped Sri Lanka to 171 for four.
Dilshan was standing like a spectator at the start of the Sri Lankan innings as his opening partner, Sanath Jayasuriya, smashed 33 off only 17 balls in a stand of 59, which ended when the left-hander got out to a fine catch at mid-on by Ishant Sharma off Irfan.
Jayasuriya had earlier smashed India's new-ball bowlers Zaheer Khan and Ishant .
Dilshan, dropped on nought by Irfan, collected 15 off Zaheer's third over.
He took 18 off Ishant's second over - including two sixes, one over cover and the second over midwicket.
Dilshan raced past his 50 with a flurry of boundaries, before falling to Ishant, and Chamara Silva chipped in with some handy late hitting.
Part-time off-spinner,Yusuf Pathan was the most successful bowler for the India as he bowled four tidy overs and manages to pick up two wickets. While I.Sharma and Irfan Pathan picked up one wicket each.
In reply to Sri Lanka’s challanging 171 runs, India lost openers Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir with only 14 runs on the board. Virendra Sehwag was run out by C.Kapugedara for 1 run and G.Gambhir out on very next ball for 13 runs caught on the bowling of T.Tushara.
Then Yuvraj Singh and Suresh Raina steadied the innings with a 67-run stand for the third wicket.
Yuvraj hammered 32 off only 21 deliveries before he was caught behind, while Raina got out shortly after for 35.
Then Sri Lanka's spinners - Bandara in particular - tightened the screw of the Indian innings and brought back Sri Lanka right back in to the match by picking up crucial wickets.Leg-spinner Malinga Bandara had claimed three wickets in his four overs as India slipped to 115 for seven in chasing the target of 172.
India were down and out at 115/7 needing another 57 runs in the last five overs with just three wickets in hand.
Then came the late twist in the evening, when Yusuf Pathan smashed M.Bandara for two huge sixes and one fast furious boundaries to collect 17 runs of five balls in the 16th over of Indian inning to minimize the pressure mounting on the Indians.
Thereafter it was Irfan Pathan who took the responsibility of scoring runs and hit two huge sixes and two fours to snatch the unbelievable victory from the hands of Sri Lanka. He first scored 13 runs in the 19th over bowled by Dilhara Fernando with one flat six over midwicket and then a crsip boundary over extra cover. Needing just five in the last ,Irfan Pathan smashed second ball of the over for six to registered a thrilling victory over Sri Lanka by three wickets.
Pathan brothers put on 59 runs off only 25 deliveries in an unbroken stand for the eighth wicket as India reached the target with four deliveries to spare.
Irfan, who brought up victory with a six, hit 33 from 16 balls, while Yusuf made 22 from 10.
Y.Pathan is declared Man of the Match for his superb bowling spell of 23/2 and blistering knock of 20 runs of 10 balls to guide India to the victory by three wickets.
Match Summary
Sri Lanka – 171/4 in 20 Overs
T.Dilshan- 61
S.Jayasurya –33
Y.Pathan- 4-0-23-2
I.Pathan-4-0-34-1
India – 174/7 in 19.2 Overs
S.K.Raina-35
I.Pathan- 33*
M.Bandara- 4-0-32-3
T.Thusara-3-0-27-1
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