INDIA: Suryakumar Yadav’s third T20I century and handy cameos from Shubman Gill and Rahul Tripathi followed by some lusty hitting by Axar Patel took India to an imposing 228/5 in 20 overs.
In reply, Sri Lankan batsmen never had an answer to the disciplined bowling attack by the men in blue.
Indian Innings
After skipper, Hardik Pandya won the toss and opted to bat first at the Saurashtra Cricket Association Ground at Rajkot, opener Ishan Kishan lost his wicket early to an out-seamer from Dilshan Madushanka.
It took Shubman Gill ten balls to score his first runs, and it was left to Rahul Tripathi to ensure that India had a good power play.
Suryakumar Yadav came in after the Indian number 3 batsman was dismissed in the powerplay’s final over. The Indian star batsman did what only he can do to get on the scoreboard quickly.
He scored his third T20I century by firing shots all over the park and treating every bowler with contempt. He couldn’t be stopped by the Sri Lankan bowlers, who were successful in removing his batting partners.
However, the fall of wickets at regular intervals had little effect on India’s rate of scoring runs as Suryakumar Yadav went hammer and tongs after the hapless Sri Lankan bowling. Axar Patel continued his form from the previous game and made a brief cameo at the end, propelling India to 228/5.
Sri Lankan Innings
The pressure of chasing the massive target proved to be too much for the young Sri Lankan team.
Kusal Mendis made a strong start with a lot of shots, but once India changed their lines and lengths, the Sri Lankan batsmen struggled to score runs. The entire bowling department performed brilliantly, especially the spinners, who bowled tidy spells.
Sri Lanka kept losing wickets at regular intervals after Axar Patel broke the 44-run partnership between Mendis and Pathum Nissanka.
Dhananjaya de Silva and Dasun Shanaka chipped in with 22 and 23 runs, respectively, but they could only delay the inevitable.
It was apparent that Sri Lanka was effectively out of the game at the halfway point of the match after India set a massive 229-run target.
Suryakumar Yadav’s heroics earlier in the match became even more remarkable of the fact that there was a little grip for the slower deliveries.
India executed their strategies with the ball with precision after Player of The Match, Suryakumar Yadav, helped them to a score that was about 20-30 more than the par score at the ground.
Axar Patel received the Player of The Series award for his heroics with the bat in the T20I and tidy bowling performances throughout the T20I series.
Also Read: David Warner to Retire from Test Cricket after This Year
