India middle-order batsman Shreyas Iyer scored his third consecutive half-century in the format as well as in the series against Sri Lanka, to power India to a 6-wicket victory in the third and final T20I of the series on Sunday night, at the Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association (HPCA) Ground in Dharamsala.
Iyer once again anchored the chase for India, scoring 73 not out from 45 balls with 9 boundaries and a six having earlier scored a brilliant unbeaten 74 on Saturday in the second game, to cap off an extremely successful series for himself. Iyer finished with a mind-boggling 204 runs from 3 matches with a highest score of 74 not out, scoring 3 consecutive half-centuries.
Sri Lanka, who elected to bat first on Sunday having scored in excess of 180 in the second game at the same venue on Saturday, could not produce a strong performance with the bat. The Sri Lankan top order was blown away by Indian fast bowlers Avesh Khan and Mohammed Siraj, with the visiting side struggling at 11/3 at the end of the 4th over.
The matters became worst for Sri Lanka in the 9th over when their middle-order batsman Janith Liyanage was removed out of the equation by India legspinner Ravi Bishnoi, with only 29 runs on the board for the island nation.
This was when the experienced Sri Lankan campaigners in Dinesh Chandimal and their captain Dasun Shanaka joined forces. The two players bailed out their team from a precarious position to lift them to a respectable 146/5 at the end of the 20th over.
Chandimal could not convert his start into a big score, falling for 22 from 27 balls having hit 2 boundaries. On the other hand, Sri Lanka captain Shanaka made 74 not out from only 38 balls, scoring 9 boundaries and 2 sixes to carry on his excellent run with the bat against India. In the second match of the series played on Saturday, Shanaka had scored a quickfire 47 which came from only 19 balls.
Towards the end, Sri Lanka batsmen Chamika Karunaratne contributed with an unbeaten 12 as they finished at 146/5. For India, Avesh Khan was the most successful bowler, returning with figures of 4-1-23-2. The others in Mohammed Siraj and Harshal Patel impressed as well, using most of the conditions that were favourable to fast bowlers to return with 1/22 and 1/29 respectively.
India, who were without the services of Ishan Kishan for the third T20, had a new opening pair in the form of capital R Sharma and wicketkeeper-batsman Sanju Samson. Kishan was hit on his head by a bouncer in the match on Saturday, and he was ruled out of the contest on Sunday on precautionary measures.
Samson got off to a promising start but could not score beyond a 12-ball 18, for which he hit 3 boundaries. Indian captain Sharma continued to disappoint, falling for 5 from 9 balls as the hosts were left struggling at 51/2 after 6.2 overs.
Promoted at No 4 for this contest, young all-rounder Deepak Hooda did well to score a 16-ball 21 with the help of a boundary as well as a six before his innings was cut short by Sri Lanka fast bowler Lahiru Kumara. Venkatesh Iyer failed to trouble the scorers as well, as he could make only 5 from 4 balls.
But India No 3 Iyer was unstoppable once again for the Sri Lanka side. The right-handed batsman hammered 9 boundaries and 1 six to reach 73 not out, for which he consumed only 45 balls. Iyer once again finished the game in the company of Ravindra Jadeja, like they did on Saturday night in the second match of the series.
Jadeja was unbeaten on 22 from 15 balls when the winning runs were scored on the penultimate ball of the 17th over. In reply to Sri Lanka's total of 146/5, India made 148/4 from 16.5 overs. For Sri Lanka, Lahiru Kumara was the most successful bowler taking 2 for 39 from his 3.5 overs. Dushmantha Chameera did well to return with impressive numbers of 3-0-19-1.
India and Sri Lanka will now travel to Mohali where they will prepare for the first of the two-Test series starting on March 4 at the Punjab Cricket Association (PCA) ground. The second and final Test of the series will be played at the M Chinnaswamy stadium in Bengaluru from March 12.
Devarchit Varma is a cricket writer and journalist with an experience of more than a decade, having worked at Hindustan Times (newspaper) and CricketCountry (website). Along with covering international and domestic cricket, he has also interviewed several current and former top players such as Rohit Sharma, Steve Smith, Dale Steyn, Michael Hussey, Jacques Kallis, Brendon McCullum, Shane Watson, Lasith Malinga and many more. He has also worked in other beats as a journalist in Bollywood (Reliance BigOye) and IT (SiliconIndia) industries.
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