Power play made the difference, says Dhawan

Shikhar Dhawan admitted that the manner in which Kusal Perera attacked the Indian bowling early in the chase made the difference between the two teams. "Yeah, I think power play made the difference. The 25 extra runs they got in the power play was crucial," said Dhawan.

"When you lose two wickets in the first two overs, we had to see that we didn't lose any more. The damage was done by those early blows. We might have been 10 runs short, but 175 was still a good score here."  

And, while Dhawan would have liked to get to three figures, he did not regret playing the shot that resulted in his downfall on 90. "I'm disappointed that I could not score a century. But at the time the team needed boundaries and needed us to attack the bowlers," said Dhawan. "I play aggressively and look to score quickly, so I'm happy that I'm able to be consistent."  

Perera, whose innings was described as "damn good" by Dhawan, was delighted to make a machining contribution. He said that 175 was not an easy target, and it needed an attacking innings at the top of the order to get across the line. "We had to make the most of the PowerPlay overs," said Perera soon after the match.

Coming back from injury is never easy, but Perera has discovered consistency ever since he forced his way back into the team.

"I had several injuries in the last few months. I played two club matches before this series and did well in those games, so I did have confidence," said Perera. "The pitch was easy to bat on, the ball was coming on to the bat and I tried to execute my normal game."

Shardul Thakur suffered the most at Perera's hands, being taken for 27 off one over. Perera revealed that he had not pre-meditated his shots before the over began, but conceded that he did choose his bowler to attack. "After the first two balls, I decided I was going to attack every ball in that over," said Perera. "Sometimes you have to do that in T20 cricket. In this format you do have to take calculated risks."