Deepak Malik’s batting performance helped India gain a 2-0 lead in the five-match Twenty20 cricket series of the blind cricketers played against Sri Lanka here in Mumbai.

Malik carried his bat through the innings striking an unbeaten century. Sunil Ramesh also bagged a half-century for himself, scoring 66 and putting on a century stand for the third wicket with Malik. R Venkateswara, the other opener opposite Malik, missed out on a half century, scoring 47 runs.

The Sri Lankans chasing the target were always behind the scoring rate and even though there were valuable contributions from the middle order, especially Ajit Silva who scored 60 for his second consecutive half-century, were still found 34 runs short of the target. The teams now head to Bhopal for the third game on Wednesday with the visitors in a must-win situation.

Brief Scores:

India 236/2 in 20 overs.

Deepak Malik 106*, Sunil Ramesh 66*, R Venkateswara 47

Sri Lanka 202/9 in 20 overs

Ajit Silva 60, Ajay Reddy 2/18, Sunil Ramesh 2/20

Man of the Match: Deepak Malik