The Best of 2017: Best T20I of the Year

The year of 2017 saw a plethora of T20I matches being played. While some were outright wins for the dominant sides, there were quite a few humdingers too. It was tough picking out the best T20I of the year. But considering the circumstances and the odds being against them, team Sri Lanka bag the honor of winning the T20I of the year.

The contenders for the accolade were many. Quite a few games went down the wire. At Nagpur, Jasprit Bumrah successfully defended 8 runs in the final over against England to help India win the game by 5 runs. In South Africa, Angelo Mathews hit a fifty to seal a 3-wicket win for the Sri Lankan side. And, the list could actually go on and on. But this particular Australia v Sri Lanka game remains to be a special one.

The match dates back to February 19, 2017. Sri Lanka were in Australia to play a 3-match T20I series. It was a bizarre scheduling of the series as the hosts, Australia, were set to play at home against the islanders till February 22, and were slated to play the first match of their tour to India on February 23. Well, the selectors saw this as an opportunity to test their bench strength.

Team Australia fielded a young side against the dampened Sri Lankan team. The reason why the Sri Lankan side is being referred as dampened is because they had come afresh of an ODI and Test drubbing in South Africa. Much to their joy, they had managed to savor some pride in the T20Is against the Proteas. Taking the rebuilt confidence forward, the islanders moved to Australia.

In the first T20I of the series, the visitors had stunned the hosts by 5 wickets. It was Asela Gunaratne who had played a handy knock of 52 in the run chase of 169 for the win at the MCG. For the second game, the action moved to the Kardinia Park, Geelong. It was a historic occasion as the venue hosted its first ever T20I.

The squads lined up for the match were pretty much similar to that in the first game. Australia’s Jhye Richardson made his T20I debut in the match. Coming to the game, Sri Lanka skipper Upul Tharanga won the toss and opted to bowl first. He had no hesitation in asking Aaron Finch’s side to do what they had done in the previous outing.

Australia get off to a flying start

Australian openers, Michael Klinger and Aaron Finch, strolled out to bat. Albeit Sri Lanka managed to send Finch (12) packing early, Klinger looked to be in good form. Vikum Sanjaya was the man who accounted for Finch’s dismissal in the third over. Ben Dunk joined Klinger at the crease and went boom boom right away.

Dunk smashed a quick 32 off just 14 balls with 3 fours and as many number of sixes. Asela Gunaratne broke the partnership by cleaning up Dunk. Moises Henriques and Klinger then paraded along to take the score past the 100-run mark. Klinger became Sanjaya’s second victim as he perished after a good 43 that came off 32 deliveries.

Henriques holds the middle-order collapse

Soon after the departure of Klinger in the 14th over, the Australian batting suffered a major collapse. From being 113/2 to 144/6 is never a pleasing sight for any team. As the innings crashed with Nuwan Kulasekara ripping through the middle order, Moises Henriques stood tall.

Henriques remained unbeaten on 56 off just 37 deliveries with 2 fours and 2 sixes to help Australia post a decent 173 in their 20 overs. Kulasekara was the pick of the bowlers for Sri Lanka with figures of 4/31.

Terrible start to the run chase

The run chase was always going to be daunting. But Sri Lanka only made things worse for them by getting off to the worst possible start. Before the powerplay got over, half the Sri Lankan side was back in the pavilion. The Aussie bowlers shared the wickets as the visitors stuttered at 40/5 in 4.3 overs.

Story of resurgence scripted

It was right then that the epic story of resurgence was scripted Asela Gunaratne. Gunaratne, who was fairly new to the international cricket, managed to absorb all the pressure in the match. He found an able partner in Chamara Kapugedara.

The two batsmen added valuable 52 runs for the sixth wicket. It was Pat Cummins who eventually broke the partnership by dismissing Kapugedara on a run-a-ball 32. The wicket of hard-hitting batsman Seekkuge Prasanna followed soon after. Again, the innings looked bleak at 117/9 in just over 15 overs.

Gunaratne lights up the stage

When the visitors needed 79 to win in the final 7 overs, nobody gave them a sniff in the hunt. The wickets of Prasanna and Kapugedara did not help their cause either. It was right then that Asela Gunaratne took the matters in his hands. What followed was an absolute carnage as the adage ‘one man army’ came to life.

In the final three overs, Sri Lanka needed 48 runs. Nuwan Kulasekara, the number 10 batsman, hit a couple of valuable fours off the bowling of James Faulkner to ease out the pressure a little, only a little. The 18th over yielded 12 runs. So, 36 needed of the final two as Moises Henriques had the ball in hand. After playing out a dot ball, Gunaratne hammered one over the covers boundary for a six to reach his second consecutive five.

The next two balls saw two more sixes coming to Sri Lanka’s way. Another dot ball, and the final ball went for a boundary. 22 runs came off the penultimate over and the equation was down to 14 needed off the final over as Andrew Tye was set to bowl. Sadly for the Lankans, Gunaratne was off strike. The worse happened as Kulasekara was dismissed on the first ball of the final over.

But Gunaratne managed to take strike as Kulasekara holed out in the deep and the batsmen crossed over. The next ball saw him hit a four over the mid-off fielder. The third ball had an even better result in the same direction – a six! A single and Malinga took the strike with 3 needed off the final two balls. Malinga managed to pull it to the mid-wicket to take a single.

With 2 needed off the final ball. Asela Gunaratne smashed the ball over covers to hit a four and win it for Sri Lanka. He went in a frenzy as the Lankan players ran to the ground to get hold of it. It was their second consecutive last ball win in T20Is. Gunaratne remained unbeaten on 84 that came off just 46 deliveries with 6 fours and 5 sixes as Sri Lanka won the match by 2 wickets.

Brief Scores:

Australia 173 All out in 20 overs (Henriques 56*,Klinger 43, Kulasekara 4/31, Malinga 2/31)

Sri Lanka 176/8 in 20 overs (Gunaratne 84*, Kapugedara 32, Tye 3/37, Faulkner 2/32)

Match significance

The 2 wicket win gave Sri Lanka a series win. They lost the final match of the series though. The win in this game gave them third successive T20 series win in Australia. This was Australia’s fifth-consecutive loss at home in T20Is, their longest losing streak.This was the 50th win for Sri Lanka in T20Is, becoming the third team to do so.