Nobody could have thought of seeing the three-match T20I series between Sri Lanka and India going into the series decider. Let alone thinking of Sri Lanka winning the T20I series despite India sending a second-string team for this tour. All this came true during the third T20I between these two neighbour countries.
India won the toss and opted to bat first. Sandeep Warrier made his international debut in place of Navdeep Saini who got injured during the second game.
India was still going with the combination of five batsmen and six bowlers. Not that it was intentional but they didnโt have any other choice after the covid-19 saga of the last few days.
Also Read: Aakash Chopra explains the reasons behind Sri Lanka’s celebration after second T20I win
Nothing went Indiaโs way after winning the toss. Shikhar Dhawan got out for a golden duck in the most important game of this tour. Sri Lankan spinners were getting good assistance from the pitch and ran riot.
Wanindu Hasaranga grabbed two wickets in his first over and Ramesh Mendis got one. As a result, Indian tailenders had to bat during the powerplay.
Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Kuldeep Yadav showed some resistance with the bat but it was never going to be enough. India managed 81/8 in 20 overs where Kuldeep top-scored with his 23 runs that came in 28 balls. Hasaranga grabbed four wickets for nine runs in his spell.
Sri Lanka were in no hurry to chase the target and started their innings without any rush. Sri Lankan batsmen were not taking any unnecessary risk. Rahul Chahar removed Avishka Fernando before dismissing Minod Bhanuka in the next over.
Also Read: Aakash Chopra backs two batsmen to pillar India’s batting in series decider
Dhananjaya de Silva was reluctant to win the game and remained unbeaten to chase the target with seven wickets in hand and 33 balls to spare. The hosts won the series by 2-1.
See how Twitter reacted to this match;
๐ฆ๐ถ๐บ๐ฝ๐น๐ ๐ฆ๐ฎ๐๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐ช๐ฒ๐น๐น๐ฑ๐ผ๐ป๐ฒ ๐๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐๐ผ๐ป๐ฒ ๐๐ป๐๐ป
๐ฌ๐ผ๐ ๐ด๐๐๐ ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐ฑ๐ฒ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐๐ฒ ๐ถ๐ ๐๐
๐ช๐ฎ๐ป๐ถ๐ฑ๐ ๐๐ฎ๐๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฎ๐ป๐ด๐ฎ
๐ฌ๐ผ๐ ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐ฎ ๐ด๐ฒ๐บ ๐ผ๐ณ ๐๐ต๐ถ๐ ๐ด๐ฎ๐บ๐ฒ
๐ธ๐ฒ๐ฒ๐ฝ ๐๐ต๐ถ๐ป๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐๐ฟ๐ผ๐๐ต๐ฒ๐ฟโฆ.#๐๐๐ฟ๐ซ๐จ๐๐ #๐ฆ๐๐๐๐ก๐— ๐ซ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐ฒ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ (@IamDimuth) July 29, 2021
Itโs been a long wait for a series win #SLvIND We will take it with both hands ๐ Now build on the smiles โฆ weโll done lads ๐๐
— Russel Arnold (@RusselArnold69) July 29, 2021
India's 81/8 is now the second-lowest restricted total, for a Test side without being dismissed, while playing their full quota of 20 overs in T20I cricket history.
The record: West Indies restricted to 79/7 (20 ov) against Zimbabwe at POS in Feb 2010#SLvIND #INDvsSL #IndvSL— Mohandas Menon (@mohanstatsman) July 29, 2021
๐ฅ๐๐๐ข๐ฅ๐ ๐๐๐๐ฅ๐ง ๐ The best T20I figures on birthday ๐
Wanindu Hasaranga had a party as he spun webs around the Indian batsmen ๐ธ๏ธ
Catch the ๐ฑ๐ฐ chase LIVE on #SonyLIV ๐ https://t.co/8QYVfLgOc3 ๐บ๐ฒ#SLvIND pic.twitter.com/3TgnkZYToA
— SonyLIV (@SonyLIV) July 29, 2021
No excuses. If you belong, you show you do #IndvsSL
— Vikrant Gupta (@vikrantgupta73) July 29, 2021
Sanju Samson vs spin since his comeback last year
Seven innings
45 balls
51 runs
Six outs (Hasaranga 3, Swepson 2, Dananjaya 1)Credit to SL, since his first ball dismissal to Hasaranga in the 1st T20I, Samson only faced spin in his further 16 balls in the series.#SLvIND
— Deepu Narayanan (@deeputalks) July 29, 2021
Shikhar Dhawan becomes the first Indian captain to register a golden duck in T20Is.#SLvIND #INDvsSL #IndvSL
— Mohandas Menon (@mohanstatsman) July 29, 2021
This is for the first time that Indian batsmen have failed to hit a single six where they batted for full 20 overs in a Twenty20 International!#SLvsIND #SLvIND #INDvSL #INDvsSL
— Rajneesh Gupta (@rgcricket) July 29, 2021
