After two close tussles, the series decider took place at the Saurashtra Cricket Association Stadium in Rajkot. World’s number one T20 international batter Suryakumar Yadav brought his A game to completely dismantle the Sri Lankan bowling lineup which paved the way for a — run win for the hosts to seal the series.
Hardik Pandya who won the toss decided to bat first on a very much flat surface and Sri Lanka had a really good start with the new ball in hand. Ishan Kishan departed in the very first over poking at a delivery swinging away from him as Sri Lankans celebrated in joy. In the first four overs India scored only 27 runs as Sri Lanka had the upper hand.
But Rahul Tripathi just in his second game gained some momentum back for the Indians with a quickfire 35 from 16 before getting dismissed. With the stage being set, Yadav came out all guns blazing and hammered the visiting bowlers from the word go.
With Shubhman Gill playing the anchor role, Yadav treated the fans present at the stadium and everyone watching all around the world to an exhibition of boundary hitting. He hammered the Lankan bowlers to all parts of the ground showcasing a complete display of high class batsmanship as the Sri Lanka fielders were relegated to mere spectators majority of the time.
When Wanindu Hasaranga finally found the breakthrough for Sri Lanka dismissing Gill for 46 off 36, the damage was already done as the scoreline was 163 inside 15 overs. Then India lost two quick wickets but Axar Patel who became a nuisance to the Lankan bowlers throughout the series combined with Yadav to provide the finishing touch as India steamed past the 200 run mark and ended with 228 runs on the board.
Yadav, who scored his third T20 international century off 45 balls, ended the innings unbeaten on 112 off 51 deliveries which included 7 fours and 9 sixes. Patel also made a fiery cameo of 21 from 9 balls.
For Sri Lankan bowlers, nothing really went their way as wherever they bowled, Yadav had an answer to everything. Kasun Rajitha was impressive once again as he took 1 wicket for 35 runs to become the most economical bowler for the visitors. Left arm pacer Dilshan Madushanka conceded 55 runs and took 2 wickets.
Chasing a mammoth total of 229, Kusal Mendis started well for Sri Lanka but had next to no support from Pathum Nissanka who struggled big time to find his timing. With dot balls building from Nissanka’s end, Mendis had to keep the scoreboard moving and succumbed to the pressure of searching for runs for 23.
Nissanka also departed shortly after scoring an underwhelming 15 with a strike rate below 100 and Avishka Fernando’s return to the t20 scene also didn’t last long. Rest of the Sri Lankan batters also couldn’t pull out something special in the chase as they fell 91 runs from the target at hand.
The task at hand was a bit too much even for skipper Dasun Shanaka as he tried hard but got dismissed for 23 as Sri Lanka’s hopes diminished. Arshdeep Singh who had a tough time in the previous ended as the highest wicket taker for India taking 3 for 20 while skipper Pandya, leg spinner Yuzvendra Chahal and the pace machine Umran Malik took 2 wickets each.
With this result, India continue their domination over Sri Lanka in bilateral ties of this format as they have not lost a single series in this format against the island nation. Looking back at the series, Sri Lanka will be disappointed about not getting over the line in the first fixture but will head into the ODI series with some confidence as they have competed well in this tour so far except for the final T20 encounter.
The three match ODI series between the two teams will begin on the 10th of January in Guwahati and it promises to be another exciting series. For all the latest developments from Sri Lanka’s tour of India 2023, stay tuned to www.thepapare.com.
Result
| Batsmen | R | B | 4s | 6s | SR | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ishan Kishan | c Dhananjaya de Silva b Dilshan Madushanka | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 50.00 |
| Shubman Gill | b Wanidu Hasaranga | 46 | 36 | 2 | 3 | 127.78 |
| Rahul Trpathi | c Dilshan Madushanka b Chamika Karunaratne | 35 | 16 | 5 | 2 | 218.75 |
| Suryakumar Yadav | not out | 112 | 51 | 7 | 9 | 219.61 |
| Hardik Pandya | c Dhananjaya de Silva b Kasun Rajitha | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 100.00 |
| Deepak Hooda | c Wanidu Hasaranga b Dilshan Madushanka | 4 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 200.00 |
| Axar Patel | not out | 21 | 9 | 4 | 0 | 233.33 |
| Extras | 5 (b 0 , lb 2 , nb 0, w 3, pen 0) |
| Total | 228/5 (20 Overs, RR: 11.4) |
| Bowling | O | M | R | W | Econ | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dilshan Madushanka | 4 | 0 | 55 | 2 | 13.75 | |
| Kasun Rajitha | 4 | 1 | 35 | 1 | 8.75 | |
| Maheesh Theekshana | 4 | 0 | 48 | 0 | 12.00 | |
| Chamika Karunaratne | 4 | 0 | 52 | 1 | 13.00 | |
| Wanidu Hasaranga | 4 | 0 | 36 | 1 | 9.00 | |
| Batsmen | R | B | 4s | 6s | SR | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pathum Nissanka | c Shivam Mavi b Arshdeep Singh | 15 | 17 | 3 | 0 | 88.24 |
| Kusal Mendis | c Umran Malik b Axar Patel | 23 | 15 | 2 | 2 | 153.33 |
| Avishka Fernando | c Arshdeep Singh b Hardik Pandya | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 33.33 |
| Dhananjaya de Silva | c Shubman Gill b Yuzvendra Chahal | 22 | 14 | 2 | 1 | 157.14 |
| Charith Asalanka | c Shivam Mavi b Yuzvendra Chahal | 19 | 14 | 2 | 0 | 135.71 |
| Dasun Shanaka | c Axar Patel b Arshdeep Singh | 23 | 17 | 0 | 2 | 135.29 |
| Wanidu Hasaranga | c Deepak Hooda b Umran Malik | 9 | 8 | 1 | 0 | 112.50 |
| Chamika Karunaratne | lbw b Hardik Pandya | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 |
| Maheesh Theekshana | b Umran Malik | 2 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 40.00 |
| Kasun Rajitha | not out | 9 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 225.00 |
| Dilshan Madushanka | b Arshdeep Singh | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 50.00 |
| Extras | 13 (b 0 , lb 1 , nb 1, w 11, pen 0) |
| Total | 137/10 (16.4 Overs, RR: 8.22) |
| Bowling | O | M | R | W | Econ | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hardik Pandya | 4 | 0 | 30 | 2 | 7.50 | |
| Arshdeep Singh | 2.4 | 0 | 20 | 3 | 8.33 | |
| Shivam Mavi | 1 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 6.00 | |
| Axar Patel | 3 | 0 | 19 | 1 | 6.33 | |
| Umran Malik | 3 | 0 | 31 | 2 | 10.33 | |
| Yuzvendra Chahal | 3 | 0 | 30 | 2 | 10.00 | |
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