Playing his first match of the series, Washington Sundar showed his worth with bat at No. 8. He hit two fours and a six in his 18-ball 25 and added 32 off 24 balls for the eighth wicket along with Ravi Bishnoi. With the bowl Washington Sundar stranded Sri Lankan charge in the Super Over to give India a thrilling win after being tied with Sri Lanka in the stipulated 20 overs.
Washington Sundar in his effort were ably supported by skipper Suryakumar Yadav and Rinku Singh who bowled superbly to restrict Sri Lanka who once again for the third time in the series faltered from a dominating position to gift India a series whitewash in a low scoring encounter at Pallekele.
Pitch and Toss
Strong wind blowing across should blow away the concerning clouds but there could be intermittent showers. We’re on a new pitch, right next to the one used in the last two games. This is drier, the cracks are evident so it is going to turn. Slower balls are going to be effective. There’s dew, the ball will come back wet and slide. You are certainly wanting to chase. Pitch should hold up 160-170 is the total you’re looking for. The slower you bowl, the harder it will be for strokeplay. Dew is going to make it very hard to grip the ball suggests Russell Arnold.
Sri Lanka skipper Charith Asalanka won the toss and chose to bowl first with Chamindu Wickramasinghe instead of Dasun Shanaka in the squad. India skipper Suryakumar Yadav batting first made as many as 4 changes in the playing 11 with Hardik Pandya, Rishabh Pant, Arshdeep Singh and Axar Patel making way for Shivam Dube, Washington Sundar, Khaleel Ahmed and Shubman Gill
Sri Lanka strike early in the Powerplay as Theekshana, seamers derail India
After an hour’s delay and a quiet opening over, Yashaswi Jaiswal struck a boundary each on either side of the strip but that’s all the fireworks India would see for the rest of the powerplay. Maheesh Theekshana struck in the same over to trap the young opener LBW, and a DRS appeal didn’t help.
Sanju Samson bagged a second successive duck in the following over, and Rinku Singh skied in his attempt to loft Theekshana over covers to make it a third wicket in as many overs. Sri Lanka, and Asitha Fernando, truly put India on the backfoot with the wicket of their captain next as Suryakumar perished trying his signature sweep over fine leg. Their 30/4 was joint second-lowest powerplay score for India in T20Is this year after 28/4 against Zimbabwe and 30/4 against Afghanistan.
India made four changes to their XI, making sure everyone in the squad got at least one match. Shubman Gill, who missed the previous game with neck spasms, started cautiously against debutant Chamindu Wickramasinghe. From the other end, Yashaswi Jaiswal tried to take on Theekshana and hit the spinners for two fours in three balls. But Theekshana trapped him lbw on the very next ball as the batter missed a sweep.
In the next over, Sanju Samson miscued Wickramasinghe to sweeper cover for his second duck in as many games. Rinku, promoted to No. 4, lasted just two balls and became Theekshana’s second victim. He tried to go inside out over covers but the turn and slowness of the wicket did him in; Pathirana took a good catch running to his right from mid-on. Asitha Fernando dealt India another blow in the last over of the powerplay when Suryakumar played a sweep from well outside off straight down the throat of fine leg.
Gill, Parag stage recovery for India in the middle overs
With India 30 for 4 inside six overs, Gill and Shivam Dube tried to stabilize the innings. But the duo could add only a run-a-ball 18 as Ramesh Mendis had Dube caught behind, with Kusal Mendis pouching the catch on the second attempt. Gill and Riyan Parag took India past 50 in the ninth over. Two overs later, Parag ended a 33-ball boundary drought with a four off Ramesh Mendis. Soon after, he launched Wanindu Hasaranga over deep midwicket for two sixes in three balls as the spinner erred on the fuller side.
Parag and Gill added 54 off 40 balls before Hasaranga dismissed both in the same over. Gill was the first to go. He came down the ground only to be beaten by the turn and be stumped. Three balls later, Parag mishit a half-tracker into the hands of deep midwicket. At 105 for 7 in the 16th over, India were in danger of getting bowled out.
The pressure of three boundary-less overs consumed Shivam Dube. The left-hander saw some width on offer from offspinner Ramesh Mendis and tried to cut, only to pop an outside edge that the keeper pouched on second attempt. Riyan Parag finally broke the shackles after 33 deliveries with a one-bounce four to long-on.
Gill, who had watched the wicket procession from one end, took the next six overs to build what was India’s only fifty-plus stand of the game. Parag, though, was the aggressor, hammering Wanindu Hasaranga for two leg-side sixes in three balls.
Washington Sundar’s late cameo propelled India to 137 for 9 after 20 overs
Playing his first match of the series, Washington Sundar showed his worth with bat at No. 8. Washington Sundar hit two fours and a six in his 18-ball 25 and added 32 off 24 balls for the eighth wicket along with Ravi Bishnoi. Thanks to their partnership, India scored 35 in the last five overs and reached a respectable 137 for 9. In the absence of Pathirana, the Sri Lanka spinners bowled 14 overs for combined figures of 6 for 107.
The hosts persisted with Hasaranga despite the 15-run over, and the leggie repaid the faith by getting rid of both of India’s set batters to hasten their downfall. Gill danced down the track and was stumped, while a ball later Parag holed out trying to pull a short one. Theekshana returned from shoulder niggle to pick his third, but not before Washington Sundar chipped in a handy cameo of 25, which included a misfield at the ropes that bounced over for six. That helped India crawl to a semi-decent 137/9.
Nissanka, Mendis set the platform for Sri Lanka in the Powerplay
Nissanka and Kusal Mendis started slowly, scoring just four runs in the first two overs. Nissanka then broke the shackles with three fours off Khaleel Ahmed in the third over. Two overs later, he reverse-pulled Washington through cover-point for yet another boundary.
India knew they needed wickets, so Suryakumar gave Mohammed Siraj a third over in the powerplay. He did produce a chance, inducing the outside edge of Kusal Mendis’ bat, but Samson was wrong-footed behind the stumps and dropped it. To make it sting even more, Kusal Mendis swept Bishnoi for back-to-back fours in the next over.
Still, India did not let Sri Lanka run away with the game. They finally got a breakthrough in the ninth over, when Nissanka chipped Bishnoi to wide long-on.
On a wicket offering ample turn, Sri Lanka openers did well to lay the groundwork for the chase. Nissanka had a heart-in-mouth moment early, facing an absolute peach from Mohammed Siraj first ball, but he moved on with three boundaries off Khaleel Ahmed’s second PowerPlay over. Siraj finally created a chance against Kusal Mendis in the sixth over, but Samson shelled it despite a diving effort. Sri Lanka had scored only marginally better than India when the fielding restrictions were on, but crucially they hadn’t lost a wicket at all unlike India.
Kusal Perera and Kusal Mendis keeps Sri Lanka in the hunt in middle overs
Sri Lanka were 61 for 1 after ten overs, the target still 77 runs away. But Kusal Perera took the aggressive route and hit five fours in the next five overs. That brought down the equation to 30 needed from 30 balls. India had won from the exactly same situation in the T20 World Cup final, but on Tuesday night, they were without Jasprit Bumrah, Arshdeep Singh and Hardik Pandya, their heroes from that game.
While Bishnoi had Kusal Mendis lbw, and Washington Sundar dismissed Hasaranga and Charith Asalanka off successive balls, Sri Lanka were still the favourites; they required only 21 from 18 balls. Khaleel then bowled an 11-ball over, which included five wides, to tilt the scale further in Sri Lanka’s favour. But the hosts were in for a rude shock.
Mendis, who’d only made 17-ball 12 in the powerplay, got going with back to back boundaries to welcome Ravi Bishnoi into the attack. He got another reprieve from Samson, though it was a tough chance this time for the Indian keeper.
However, Nissanka holed out to deep midwicket two balls later to give India, and Bishnoi, the first breakthrough. Kusal Perera joined his namesake in the middle, and forged a vital half-century stand in 37 deliveries as he also settled in with successive fours off Bishnoi. While Perera played the impact knock, Mendis was happy to drop anchor on a pitch that wasn’t the easiest to find runs on.
Rinku, Suryakumar Yadav restrict Sri Lanka to 137 for 8 after 20 overs
For the majority of the match, Sri Lanka outplayed India in all three departments but they had a great fall towards the end. They needed just nine from the last two overs with six wickets in hand. Rinku Singh, who had never bowled previously in T20Is, sent down the 19th over, conceded just three runs, and picked up two wickets.
That left Sri Lanka needing six from six balls. Mohammed Siraj had an over left but Suryakumar Yadav decided to bring himself on as the ball was turning a mile. He, too, was bowling for the first time in T20Is. Moreover, India were behind the over-rate and could have only four fielders outside the 30-yard circle. But Suryakumar gave away just five runs, apart from picking up two wickets, to tie the game.
The equation for a consolation win read run-a-ball 30 required in the slog-overs and it didn’t start on the best note for Sri Lanka with Bishnoi getting third-time lucky against Mendis who was trapped plumb in front and burnt a review on his way back. Bishnoi in fact had a hand in all three dismissals up until now. After finishing with 2-38, the leggie pulled off a stunner in the deep to send the big-hitting Hasaranga back, his promotion not yielding the results the hosts sought.
Washington Sundar made it two in two balls when Charith Asalanka nicked behind to bag a golden duck. A wide-filled 18th over from Khaleel went for 12 and put Sri Lanka in the driver’s seat. It was down to 9 off 12 needed but Suryakumar took massive risk to bowl Rinku Singh and himself, and together they pulled a rabbit out of the hat to continue the dramatic Sri Lankan collapse. The duo picked up two apiece for 3 and 5 runs respectively, sending the game into the Super Over.
Washington Sundar led India’s emphatic win in the Super Over
Sri Lanka could muster only two runs, one of which was a wide from Washington Sundar first-up, in three balls and ended up losing both their batters to big hits. Kusal Perera pulled one straight to deep backward square leg and Pathum Nissanka failed to get the desired elevation on his attempted pull. India needed only three to win and Suryakumar swept the first ball to short fine where a misfield resulted in a boundary and put an end to Sri Lanka’s misery.
Washington Sundar started the Super Over with a wide. But a single later, he had Kusal Perera and Pathum Nissanka caught at the boundary off successive deliveries. With India needing only three from their Super Over, Suryakumar swept Maheesh Theekshana’s first ball towards short fine leg, where Asitha Fernando let the ball through his hands for four.
Presentations and Road Ahead
Charith Asalanka the loosing skipper said : I am really disappointed about our batting line-up, especially middle-order and late middle-order. Very bad shot selection was the reason. Spinners were bowling that’s why Hasaranga came up the order. We gave him the license to hit one or two boundaries, that didn’t work for us. Wrong shot selection on this pitch. When the ball gets old, our shot selection should be spot-on, it’s really hard to bat on these tracks.
Definitely (the target was gettable), we can’t give excuses. As professional cricketers, we need to do little bit more than this. I want to see good batting performances in the ODIs, not like T20s. Our top three and four have done well and that’s the only positive I have. Boys will do something better.
Washington Sundar Player of the Match for his all round show said : (Super Over) All the work that I did, a lot of blessings from God definitely helped me. I wanted to try and stay calm and focus on what I am supposed to do. Very grateful to Surya to throw the ball to me at that kind of a situation. Very grateful to get an opportunity in this game.
Every game I get to play for my country, it’s a blessing. I just need to do what I am supposed to do and keep working hard every single day. We did a bit of homework against their batsmen. There was little bit of purchase, I didn’t have to do too much. I had to hit the right lengths very often.
Suryakumar Yadav the winning skipper and Player of the Series said : More than the last over, I feel when we were around 30/4 and 48/5, how the boys showed character in the middle and took the game away from them … I felt 140 was a par score on that track. When we were going in during fielding session I told them, ‘I have seen such kind of games. If we put our heart in for one and a half hours, we can pull it off.’
If you are enjoying hitting 200-220s and winning games, you should enjoy 30/4 and 70/5 as well because that creates balance in your life and that’s how you move on and just be humble. The amount of skill they have, self confidence what they bring into the table, it makes my job very easy. The positivity they have on the ground and in the dressing room, the care for each other what they show is unbelievable.
After the last game, I said few boys are going to rest and they were the first ones to tell me, ‘Okay we would rest and you can give opportunities to others.’ That shows the character of the team and how happy they are for others’ performance as well. They have made my job easy. When I go into bat, I have little pressure, I just enjoy to express myself. I said before the series, I don’t want to be the captain, I want to be a leader.
The new era under SKY & Gambhir is underway with a 3-0 series win. With the series already sealed, India made four changes to their XI for this match. Inserted to bat, they were reduced to 30/4 in the powerplay which later became 48/5. Gill and Parag forged a fifty partnership and then Washington Sundar played a crucial knock to take India’s total to 137 – a competitive total on a spinning track. In reply, Sri Lanka got off to a cautious start with the openers scoring 35 runs off the powerplay.
They slowly upped the ante and stitched a fifty partnership. Nissanka fell to Bishnoi but there was another half-century partnership. Sri Lanka were cruising with the two Kusals out in the middle looking in good touch. It was Sri Lanka’s match to lose and they found a way to lose it. Bishnoi removed Mendis in his final over, Sundar picked two more off his fourth over.
But when Khaleel bowled a lot of wides in the 18th over, most of us thought that the match was out of India’s reach. Just 9 runs were needed off the last two overs. Sri Lanka made a mess of it against Rinku Singh and SKY! The Super Over was done and dusted quickly. Sundar nipped out Perera and Nissanka for ducks and then SKY wrapped it up in one ball. Crazy game of cricket!
Curtains down on this 3-match T20I series. Sri Lanka will be gutted. Even without Pathirana bowling a single ball, they managed to restrict a powerful Indian batting line-up to 137. And, their top three batsmen fared pretty well against the Indian tweakers to get to a strong position. Losing can become a habit and unfortunately for them, the cause has remained the same in all three matches.
Three dramatic collapses to squander good starts provided by their top-order. The ODIs aren’t too far away. The action shifts to Colombo and the first of the three ODIs will commence on Friday. It could be a tougher challenge for the Islanders as the likes of Rohit and Kohli will be in action for the Indians.