Team India completed a whitewash of Sri Lanka as they won the third and final T20 encounter between the sides on Tuesday at the Pallekele International Cricket Stadium after taking the game to a super over!
India put up a total of 137 runs in 20 overs before limiting Sri Lanka to the exact score at the end of the second innings. The Men in Blue scalped two Lankan wickets in the Super Over for two runs before Suryakumar Yadav swept the ball away to the ropes to close the game out in style.
The game was delayed by an hour due to inclement weather and a wet outfield as Sri Lankan skipper Charith Asalanka opted to field first after winning the coin toss. The decision yielded instant results as Maheesh Theekshana scalped Indian opener Yashasvi Jaiswal for just 10 runs in the second over.
Sanju Samson, who picked up a duck on his previous outing, had yet another night to forget as he was dismissed without opening his account by Chamindu Wickramasinghe. Rinku Singh, who was promoted up the order did not fare much better on the day as he was scalped after chipping in with just a single run by Theekshana.
Skipper Suryakumar Yadav walked in to bat with the aim of stabilising the crumbling Indian innings, but could only manage to add 8 runs before being sent back by Asitha Fernando.
Shivam Dube added 13 runs before being caught behind by Kusal Mendis off Ramesh Mendis’s over.
Riyan Parag and Shubman Gill steadied the ship with their 54-run stand that also took India past the 100-run mark. However, Gill, India’s top scorer on the day with 39 runs, squandered his wicket away when he was stumped by Mendis following a Wanindu Hasaranga turner. The Sri Lankan spinner doubled his tally in the same over as he also got rid of Parag after the Indian had made 26 runs.
Washington Sundar added a vital 25 runs off his willow before being cleaned out by Theekshana as the spinner picked up his three-fer. Ravi Bishnoi remained unbeaten on 8 runs before Mohammed Siraj was run out by Kusal Mendis on the final ball of the innings as India managed to put up a total of 137 for the loss of 9 wickets in 20 overs.
Sri Lanka opened the chase with Pathum Nissanka and Kusal Mendis, who added 58 runs for the first wicket before the former was removed by Bishnoi for 26 runs.
Kusal Perera came out to replace his fallen teammate and notched up a solid stand alongside his namesake to take Sri Lanka into triple figures. Mendis was dismissed seven runs shy of his half-century by Bishnoi before Sundar scalped Hasaranga and Asalanka in consecutive deliveries to help India mount a late challenge.
Rinku was thrown the ball for the penultimate over and repaid his skipper’s faith with the scalp of Perera to unnerve the hosts towards the end of the game. Suryakumar picked up the ball for the final over and managed to strike twice and limit the hosts to 137 to take the game to a super over.
In the decisive super over, Indian spinner Sundar scalped two wickets for as many runs to bring the SL innings to a close before Suryakumar put the finishing touches on the game with a first-ball boundary to seal the whitewash.
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