Ind vs SL, 3rd T20I, Dharamsala: Shreyas' 73*, Avesh 's 2-23, Siraj's 1-22 power India to 3-0 win
Updated: Feb 28, 2022
Shreyas Iyer, Ravindra Jadeja and bowlers help India beat Sri Lanka by six wickets and clinch series by 3-0
Brief Scores: India 148/4 (16.5 overs) (S Iyer 73*, R Jadeja 22*, L Kumara 2-39) defeated Sri Lanka 146/5 (20 overs) (D Shanaka 74*, D Chandimal 25, A Khan 2-23, M Siraj 1-22) by 6-wickets.
After sealing the T20I series by 2-0 in the 2nd T20I at Dharamshala, which incidentally was their 11th successive victory in the format, India needed another consolidating victory for the series white-wash. Rohit Sharma and co. needed one basic strategy to leverage and win the game at the same venue they had played on during the 2nd T20I yesterday. On the other hand, Sri Lanka took the ground to perform well and not succumb to half chances and win the game and save some pride.
Since Ishan Kishan was hit on the helmet and hospitalized (later discharged), he was made to sit out, so the skipper promoted Sanju Samson up the batting order as the opener. Other notable changes in India’s squad were mostly that of the bowling unit where Kuldeep Yadav came in for Yuzvendra Chahal, while Avesh Khan and Mohammed Siraj came in for Jasprit Bumrah and Bhuvneshwar Kumar respectively.
For Sri Lanka, skipper Dasun Shanaka made a couple of changes and brought in Janith Liyanage and Jeffrey Vandersay, while Praveen Jayawickrama and Kamil Mishara were benched.
The pitch at Dharamshala
The pitch had less grass and was hard with some scratches. Despite Sri Lanka posting a competitive target of 184 runs, Indian batters chased the target rather comfortably with 17 balls to spare. The pitch did offer wickets to both spinners and pacers, especially during the first innings. Bowling during the 2nd innings was difficult as the dew factor did come into play. Despite that, Sri Lanka's skipper won the toss and elected to bat first, for the same quest of posting a huge total and relying on the bowlers to defend the total.
Avesh-Siraj paralyze SL scoring, SL managed just one boundary during the powerplay
Unlike the 2nd T20I, Sri-Lankan openers failed to replicate the last night’s heroics as they departed cheaply. Danushka Gunathilaka chopped onto his stumps off Mohammad Siraj’s delivery that outplayed him for a duck. Sri Lanka lost their first wicket in the first over of the innings. The second wicket rather came quickly when Prathum Nissanka, the highest run-scorer from last night with a 75-run knock blew big time and carted the ball towards Venkatesh Iyer towards the mid-off and departed for just one run. Sri Lanka lost the second wicket, as Avesh Khan, who played his second T20I of his career got his wicket. Sri Lanka was off to a horrific start after having lost both the openers cheaply over the pressure mounted by India.
Runs had dried up and as a result of the burden, Avesh Khan got his second wicket in the 4th over of the match. He sent back Charith Asalanka who was undone by the extra bounce of the surface and departed for 4 runs off 6 deliveries. Rohit Sharma didn’t hesitate to provide 3-overs each to Mohammad Siraj and Avesh Khan as they bound Sri-Lanka to 18/3 in the powerplay with just one boundary scored off it.
Read More: Ind vs SL, 2nd T20I, Dharamsala: Shreyas Iyer proves himself again with 74*; India take series 2-0
Sri Lanka’s run rate continued to trottle; managed 78/5 after 15-overs
India kept building the pressure on the visitors by introducing the spinner Ravi Bishnoi and Kuldeep Yadav. Both the spinner bowled in discipline and pitched tight lines and lengths, with varying pace and seemingly made as if every run was coming for a price of dipping run rate. Ravi Bishnoi, who had a fabulous series against the West Indies, gave the fourth breakthrough as he earned the better of Janith Liyanage (scored 9 off 19) who failed to read the wrong ‘un and departed after a struggling stay at the crease. On the other end, Kuldeep Yadav bowled a miserly spell, as Sri Lanka was limping at 43/4 after 10 overs with skipper Dasun Shanaka (7* runs) and Dinesh Chandimal (13* runs) in the middle.