Wanindu Hasaranga made merry on his birthday as his 4/9 helped Sri Lanka restrict India to a paltry 81/8 in their 20 overs. Chasing a tad over four runs an over, Sri Lanka did lose three wickets but 81 was never going to be enough and the hosts eased through to clinch the T20I series 2-1.
It was one-way traffic right from the very first over as Sri Lanka annihilated India in the third T20I to record their first bilateral series win over India in 13 years. Moreover, this was also their first bilateral T20I series win in almost two years. Nothing went right from India as they crumbled to 81/8 from their 20 overs after opting to bat first in the third T20I. Sri Lanka chased it down with 33 balls to spare.
Shikhar Dhawan opted to bat first, a decision that did not go down well with experts given the batting strength India had at their disposal. India once again had just five batters and six bowlers like the second T20I. Sri Lanka, on the other hand, strengthened their batting as they got Pathum Nissanka in for Isuru Udana.
India had the worst start possible. Skipper Dhawan fell in the very first over for a first-ball duck as Dushmantha Chameera had him caught at first slip.
Devdutt Padikkal scratched around for a 15-ball 9 before he was given out LBW off Ramesh Mendis but was also runout off the same ball trying to steal a single in.
Wanindu Hasaranga then landed a killer double blow in the 5th over. He had Sanju Samson and Ruturaj Gaikwad LBW in the space of three deliveries to leave India reeling at 25/4. Sri Lanka had already exposed the tail inside the powerplay.
Nitish Rana stuck around for a few overs but fell to a brilliant return catch from Sri Lanka skipper Dasun Shanaka. The left-hander could make a mere 6 off 15 balls which saw India slip to 36/5 in nine overs. Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Kuldeep Yadav hung around for almost six overs but could add just 20 runs.
Hasaranga came back to pick two wickets in his last two overs and Shanaka had one more. India crumbled to a shoddy 81/8 in their 20 overs as Kuldeep top-scored with 23 not out.
Chasing a paltry total, Sri Lanka also got off to a slow start but they didn’t lose any wickets in the first five overs. It was only the introduction of Rahul Chahar that caused problems. The leg-spinner was the one who gave India their first breakthrough as he had Avishka Fernando caught and bowled in the sixth over.
Minod Bhanuka was out LBW in Chahar’s next over as Sri Lanka were reduced to 35/2 in eight overs. Sadeera Samarawickrama struggled throughout his stay in the middle as he scratched around for a 13-ball 6 before Chahar knocked him over to pick up his third over.
Dhananjaya de Silva and Hasaranga wrapped up the chase with ease as they shared an unbeaten 26-run stand which came in a mere 2.3 overs. 81 was always going to be too small a target to defend for the Indian bowlers and apart from Rahul Chahar, none of them could even get into the wickets column.
Sri Lanka finally won a T20I series. Their last one was back in September 2019 when they whitewashed Pakistan 3-0 in Pakistan. Co-incidentally, Shanaka was the skipper back then as well as several first-choice players had backed out.
Brief scores
India 81/8 (Kuldeep 23*, Bhuvneshwar 16, Hasaranga 4/9, Shanaka 2/20) lost to Sri Lanka 82/3 (de Silva 23*, Bhanuka 18, Hasaranga 14*, Rahul Chahar 3/15) by 7 wickets.
