Finance
Rinku Singh and Suryakumar Yadav’s late bowling efforts, allied with Washington Sunder’s Super Over performance, enabled India defeat Sri Lanka in the third T20I at the Pallekele International Cricket Stadium here on Tuesday, sweeping the series 3-0.
Chasing a below-par 138, the hosts got off to a flying start, with openers Pathum Nissanka and Kusal Mendis combining for 58 runs for the first wicket. Spinner Ravi Bishnoi broke the opening stand in the ninth over. Kusal Perera joined Mendis in the middle and stitched another large partnership of 52 runs, laying the groundwork for an easy victory. However, Bishnoi shocked the hosts once again by dismissing Mendis (43) in the 16th over.
At the moment, Sri Lanka required 28 runs from 28 balls. However, things took a turn for the worse as the hosts’ batting faltered and they were reduced to 132/6 in 19 overs. Rinku Singh took two wickets, including that of Perera (46) in the penultimate over of the innings, his first of the match.
Suryakumar surprised everyone by coming on in the final over to defend six runs off six balls. Surprisingly, he did brilliantly, limiting Sri Lanka to 137/8, the same total that India used to tie the match.
The match continued into the Super Over, where Washington Sundar removed both Kusal Perera and Pathum Nissanka, limiting Sri Lanka to 2/2 after 0.3 overs.
In response, Suryakumar hit a boundary of the first ball off Maheesh Theekshana’s Super Over to stay unbeaten in the series.
Earlier, Shubman Gill and Yashasvi Jaiswal began for the visiting team, with the former returning after missing the second game. India got off to a bad start in the innings, with Theekshana taking Jaiswal’s (10) wicket in the second over.
Sanju Samson, who replaced Rishabh Pant in the match, batted at No. 3 but was dismissed for a four-ball duck by Chamindu Wickramasinghe in the next over.
Rinku Singh (1) and captain Suryakumar Yadav (8) were both dismissed early in the Powerplay, adding to India’s batting woes. India were at 30/4 after 5.4 overs. Mendis has been removed Shivam Dube (13) in the ninth over to further dent India’s hopes of rebuilding the innings.
However, the 54-run partnership between Gill and Riyan Parag proved crucial for the visitors, as the combination guided the side to 100 runs and provided relief in the middle overs. Wanindu Hasaranga broke the stand in the 16th over, taking the wickets of both set hitters — Gill (39) and Parag (26) — in his final over of the period. He ended with numbers of 2-29 in his allowed number of overs.
Finally, Washington Sundar and Ravi Bishnoi scored some critical runs before the former was bowled out in the final over of the innings. He scored 25 runs off 18 balls, including two fours and a six, while Bishnoi remained unbeaten for eight runs.
Sri Lanka’s Theekshana finished with the best statistics for the home side, taking three wickets in four overs.
India has rested four players for the match, including Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel, Arshdeep Singh, and Pant, as they lead the series 2-0.
Both teams will now face off in a three-match ODI series, which begins on August 2 in Colombo.
Brief scores: India 137/9 in 20 overs (Shubman Gill 39, Riyan Parag 26; Wanindu Hasaranga 2-29, Maheesh Theekshana 3-28) against Sri Lanka 137/8 in 20 overs (Kusal Mendis 43, Kusal Perera 46; Rinku Singh 2-3, Suryakumar Yadav 2-5).
Super Over
Sri Lanka: 2/2 in 0.3 over
India: 4/0 in 0.1 over
Source:IANS
