Pune: Shikhar Dhawan silenced his critics, KL Rahul sizzled as usual and the trio of fast bowlers were intimidating in India’s one-sided 78-run victory over Sri Lanka in the third T20 International on Friday, sealing the series 2-0.
India were sent into bat by Sri Lanka captain Lasith Malinga but on a flat track, the hosts managed an above-par 201 for 6, largely due to Dhawan (52 off 36 balls) and Rahul’s (54 off 36 balls) opening stand of 97 in little less than 11 overs.
Shardul Thakur (21 not out off 8 balls) used his long handle to a good effect and Manish Pandey (31 off 18 balls) hardly showed any rustiness adding 37 runs in final 2.2 overs to take the score past 200-run mark.
In reply, Sri Lanka managed only 123 runs in 15.5 overs as there was simply no resistance from the islanders with the gulf in class being so evident in a lopsided contest.
Eight Sri Lankan batsmen failed to reach double figures with Dhananjaya De Silva (51) and Angelo Mathews (31) adding 68 for the fifth wicket. They lost four wickets in the Powerplay overs and there was no coming back from that position. It was primarily due to the pace and bounce generated by Jasprit Bumrah (1/5 in 2 overs), Shardul Thakur (2/19 in 3 overs) and the ever-improving Navdeep Saini (3/28 in 3.5 overs), who again bowled an unplayable yorker to get Kusal Perera out.
In fact, skipper Virat Kohli could be lauded for promoting Sanju Samson (6) and Pandey, who have been benched for the longest time.
While Samson fluffed his lines, Pandey did his case no harm with a useful knock towards the end. Skipper Kohli (26 off 17 balls, 2×4; 1×6) and Pandey tried to rally the innings before Kohli and Washington Sundar (0) were dismissed in the 18th over. But Shardul’s slogging got India past par-score mark.
“One thing was always in the back of my head that down the line somewhere I will get a game and I was ready for it. That’s what the coaches told me also. Got my chance today, had a good partnership with Shardul,” Pandey said after the match.
Put into bat, Dhawan, who has been under pressure for some time smashed seven boundaries and a six in his 97-run opening stand with the in-form Rahul who also hit an over boundary along with five fours. Dhawan got an early ‘life’, when Dasun Shanaka dropped one at deep square leg. (PTI)
Score Board
India: 201/6 in 20 Overs
KL Rahul st Perera b Sandakan 54
Shikhar Dhawan c Gunathilaka b Sandakan 52
Sanju Samson lbw b PWH de Silva 6
Manish Pandey not out 31
Shreyas Iyer c & b Sandakan 4
Virat Kohli run out (Gunathilaka/Perera) 26
Washington Sundar c Sandakan b Kumara 0
Shardul Thakur not out 22
Extras: (LB-2, W-4) 6
Bowling: Lasith Malinga 4-0-40-0, Angelo Mathews
3-0-38-0, Dhananjaya de Silva 1-0-13-0, Lahiru Kumara
4-0-46-1, Wanindu Hasaranga 4-0-27-1,
Lakshan Sandakan 4-0-35-3.
Sri Lanka: 123 all out in 15.5 Overs
Danushka Gunathilaka c Sundar b Bumrah 1
Avishka Fernando c Iyer b Thakur 9
Kusal Perera b Saini 7
Oshada Fernando run out (Pandey) 2
Angelo Mathews c Pandey b Sundar 31
Dhananjaya de Silva c Bumrah b Saini 57 Dasun Shanaka c & b Thakur 9 Wanindu Hasaranga run out (Chahal) 0 Lakshan Sandakan st Samson b Sundar 1 Lasith Malinga c Kohli b Saini 0
Lahiru Kumara not out 1
Extras: (B-1, W-4) 5
Bowling: Jasprit Bumrah 2-1-5-1, Shardul Thakur 3-0-19-2, Navdeep Saini 3.5-0-28-3, Washington Sundar 4-0-37-2, Yuzvendra Chahal 3-0-33-0. (PTI)