India 81 for 3 (Jaiswal 30, Suryakumar 26, Theekshana 1-16) batted Sri Lanka 161 for 9 (Kusal Perera 53, Nissanka 32, Bishnoi 3-26) by seven wickets by DLS
In the first two T20Is, Sri Lanka lost 16 in 68 overs in the last six overs. So much was bought for the spinners that part-time spinner Parag bowled his full overs and Axar bowled the last over in the first innings when Sri Lanka could only manage 161 for 9.
Sri Lanka’s best bet to protect this young side would have been to release three of their spinners for India – they bolstered their spin attack by bringing in Ramesh Mendis’ fast bowler Dilshan Madushanka – but the rain has hampered them. Even as Maheesh Theekshana bowled Sanju Samson for a duck as India chased down 78 in eight overs, Wanindu Hasaranga scored 16 in his first over. Suryakumar Yadav then hit Theekshana for three consecutive fours to rush India to victory.
Matheesha Pathirana dismissed Suryakumar for 26 off 12 balls, and Yashasvi Jaiswal made 30 off 15 balls in the next over, but Hardik Pandya produced his own, ensuring a new era for India began by winning the series.
Nissanka, Perera lays a solid foundation
After being asked to bat first, Sri Lanka came out of the blocks, scoring 54 for 1 in the powerplay. With the ball not swinging to Mohammed Siraj or Arshdeep Singh, Pathum Nissanka and Kusal Mendis had license to pump the ball up.
Mendis lifted an on-pace seam-up delivery from Arshdeep four overs in the middle of the on, but when the left-arm seamer took a step and threw the cutter into the pitch, he was able to run into the fielder. Nissanka and Kusal Perera, however, continued to bat with high intent and continued to close boundaries in the powerplay.
Whenever India’s bowlers strayed from his hips, Perera unleashed Sanath Jayasuriya-esque short-arm jabs and when he raced to a 31-ball half-century, he earned Jayasuriya himself a standing ovation from the dugout. Perera had reached the milestone with the help of Rinku Singh, who skidded to the edge of the square-leg boundary and ended up taking the ball for a six.
Rinku again dismissed Kusal for 32 in the tenth over after arm spinner Bishnoi drew a leg-break sweep. By then, Bishnoi had already bowled Nissanka lbw for 32 off 24 balls with a whizing’un.
Indian spinners are breaking ground
India stuck with four specialist bowlers, including Axar, and backed Hardik and Parag to share the fifth bowler role. After an impressive 3-of-5 on Saturday, Parag unleashed a twist and a jump. At one point, the broadcaster posted a picture showing the average turn scored by the Indian spinners. Parag produced 3.7 degrees of rotation on average compared to 3 degrees for Axar and 1 degree for Bishnoi.
Although Parag did not get a wicket, he again showed that he can get the job done with the ball. He even allowed Suryakumar to catch Hardik till the 14th over.
Bishnoi then came back from the dead to bowl Dasun Shanaka and Hasaranga for ducks. Hardik did his bit with Perera making 53 off 34 balls, Rinku taking a sharp catch and freeing himself.
Suryakumar shook things up at the death, as he had done on Saturday when he gave the ball to Parag at this stage. Bowling the 20th over for only the third time in his T20I career and the sixth in his T20 career, Axar gave up just eight runs while taking the wickets of Theekshana and Ramesh on Sunday.
From 130 for 2, Sri Lanka slipped to 161 for 9. The game is over for them.
Rain, SKY dirty and SL spinners
After rain delayed the start of play by 45 minutes, it brought back three balls in India’s chase and left them chasing a revised score of 78 in eight overs.
Sri Lanka had hope when Theekshana removed Samson with a spinner and hit Suryakumar on the outside edge with a carrom ball. Hasaranga, however, struggled to get hold of the wet ball and Jaiswal passed the game against the legspinner.
As the ball slid into the bat after a shower, Suryakumar played a variety of sweeps before falling to Pathirana. Hardik ended the chase with nine balls to spare and left Hasaranga’s nursing figures at 2-0-34-1.
Deivarayan Muthu is an associate editor at ESPNcricinfo
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