India’s stand-in skipper Rohit Sharma was a happy skipper after India outplayed Sri Lanka in the fourth Twenty20 International of the Nidahas Trophy in Colombo on Monday. He praised the bowlers who set up India’s six-wicket win that helped the men in blue to become the table toppers in the tri-series.

During the post-match presentation ceremony, referring to the bowlers, Sharma said, “Smart performance, especially from the bowlers. To restrict a batting unit like that, it was a great effort from the bowlers. The conditions weren’t easy for the bowlers, there was a bit of dew on the ground. Neither easy for the spinners nor the pacers, but they have executed their plans really well. Just continued where we left off against Bangladesh.”

That's game set and match for #TeamIndia as they wrap up their 3rd T20I with a 6-wicket win. Brilliant team effort on display. pic.twitter.com/BC5WErTtGE

— BCCI (@BCCI) March 12, 2018

He further added, “The bowlers came out and executed the ideas and plans really well. We discussed a lot of things and it was very much on display for everyone to see.”

Also read: Stats Review: Nidahas Trophy (SL vs Ind 4th T20I)

Put in to bat, Sri Lankans were restricted to 152/9 thanks to a brilliant bowling performance by man-of-the-match Shardul Thakur, who picked up his career-best 4/27. India did not get off to an ideal start after both their openers Rohit Sharma (11) and Shikhar Dhawan (8) fell cheaply.

However, Pandey (42*) and Karthik (39*) then added an unbroken 68 runs for the fifth wicket to take India over the line. It was India’s second victory in the tri-series. Sri Lanka and Bangladesh have won one each.

Also read: Twitter Reactions: Nidahas Trophy (SL vs Ind)

Describing India’s batting, Rohit said, “We bat really deep, and we haven’t had a batting line-up like that in a long time. We have a lot of all-rounders, but the middle-order hasn’t had opportunities to bat in the recent past, but as you saw today, Manish and DK batted extremely well. Can’t single out a performance, it was a complete team effort.”

India next plays Bangladesh on Wednesday and a win will take them to the final.
Talking about the upcoming game, Rohit said, “We aren’t laid back at all because all three teams are still alive in the tournament. They can all stand at four points. So we need to continue the momentum from hereon. The new guys have all taken their opportunities and made good use of it. So we don’t need to go and change anything, we just need to play the way we have over the last two years.”