Openers K L Rahul and Shikhar Dhawan smashed half-centuries as India thrashed Sri Lanka by 78 runs in the third Twenty20 international to clinch the series 2-0 yesterday.
Rahul, who top-scored with 54, and Dhawan, who hit 52, put on 97 runs for the opening wicket as India amassed 201 for six after being put in to bat in Pune.
Paceman Navdeep Saini claimed three wickets to help dismiss Sri Lanka for 123 in 15.5 overs despite a fighting 57 by Dhananjaya de Silva.
Saini sent back De Silva after his 36-ball knock and then got skipper Lasith Malinga for nought as the islanders lost their second straight match after the opening T20 was abandoned due to rain.
Manish Pandey and Shardul Thakur also played key roles with batting cameos that helped India take 63 runs from the last five overs.
Pandey, scoring 31 off 18 balls, and Thakur, with an eight-ball 22, put on an unbeaten 37-run stand for the seventh wicket and the duo managed to get 19 runs off the last over.
Earlier the left-handed Dhawan was dropped on one by Dasun Shanaka at deep square leg off Angelo Mathews and made the most of the spill as he recorded his 10th T20 fifty in just 34 balls. Left-arm wrist spinner Lakshan Sandakan finally got Dhawan and struck twice in his next over to send back Rahul and Shreyas Iyer, for four, trudging back to the pavilion as India slipped to 122-4.
Skipper Virat Kohli, who dropped himself to number six in the batting order, then took the attack to the opposition with a 17-ball 26 before being run out while attempting a second run. Sri Lanka were never in the chase after losing their top three batsmen for 15 runs and then slipping to 26 for four.
De Silva and Mathews, who made 31, put on 68 for the fifth wicket to raise Sri Lankan hopes but Washington Sundar struck back to break the partnership.
Sundar and Thakur took two wickets each.
Pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah became India’s highest wicket-taker in the T20 format with 53 scalps after he struck first with the wicket of Danushka Gunathilka for one.
India now host Australia for three one-day internationals starting Tuesday in Mumbai.
Kohli praises
‘clinical’ India
Skipper Virat Kohli hailed India’s clinical start to the year after they completed a 78-run, series-clinching win over Sri Lanka.
“Good start to this year. We have started on the right track, chasing one game and setting one game. Two very clinical performances, so I’m very happy,” said Kohli.
“Just the confidence of getting that 200 mark every now and then will put us in a good stead. That middle collapse was challenging and what Manish (Pandey) and Shardul did was very good.”
“We bowled okay for these kind of conditions in the first 15-16 overs, and after that they got away,” said Sri Lanka skipper Malinga.
“We didn’t have much time to change our squad but this is the talent we have in Sri Lanka so we have to back them. Everyone in world Cricket is using wrist spinners because they are wicket-taking options and we have Sandakan and (Wanindu) Hasaranga.”
brief scores:
India 201 for 6 (Rahul 54, Dhawan 52, Sandakan 3-35) beat Sri Lanka 123 (Dhananjaya 57, Mathews 31, Saini 3-28, Thakur 2-19) by 78 runs.
from Gulf Times https://ift.tt/35MtLuh
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