Twitter Reactions: India thump Sri Lanka by 78 runs in Pune to seal the series

While Rahul and Dhawan scored half-centuries with the bat, the bowlers were clinical yet again.

By Aditya Gajanan Kukalyekar verified

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Indian team. (Photo Source: Twitter)

India have defeated Sri Lanka in the third and final T20I to seal the series by 2-0. It was yet another comprehensive victory for the hosts as the Islanders once again couldn’t match India’s level in any aspect of the game. While it was KL Rahul and Shikhar Dhawan with the bat for the Men in Blue, the bowlers were yet again clinical as they never allowed the visitors to get going with the bat.

After winning the toss, Lasith Malinga didn’t have any hesitation in bowling first. India, on the other hand, were looking to bat first to challenge themselves even as they made three changes to their line-up. Sanju Samson, Manish Pandey and Yuzvendra Chahal were included in the side at the expense of Rishabh Pant, Shivam Dube and Kuldeep Yadav respectively.

Shikhar Dhawan was under immense pressure coming into this game and he responded in style. The southpaw batted with intent from the word go. India’s opening pair clicked in unison after a long time as Dhawan and KL Rahul added 97 runs for the first wicket in less than 11 overs. The former was the first one to fall but not before scoring 52 off just 36 balls.

Rahul kept going even then and notched up yet another half-century. However, like his partner, even he couldn’t carry on and was bluffed by Lakshan Sandakan when on 54. India sent Sanju Samson at number three but the move didn’t work. The Kerala batsman started in emphatic fashion scoring a six off the very first ball. But unfortunately, he was pinned in front of the stumps off the very next delivery by Wanindu Hasaranga.

Shreyas Iyer too couldn’t do much and suddenly the hosts had lost their way. From 97/0 after 10.4 over, they collapsed to 122/4 after 12.5 overs. But Virat Kohli who batted at six and Manish Pandey, who came in at four, resurrected the innings. Pandey played a vital hand and remained unbeaten on 31 off 18 balls while propelling India past the 200-run mark.

Kohli also played his part scoring 26 runs. But Shardul Thakur proved to be the real difference in the death overs as he smacked 22 runs off just 8 balls. India finished the innings on 201/6 after 20 overs. Sandakan was the best bowler for Sri Lanka. He returned with the figures of 3/35 in his four overs.

Only De Silva fights for hapless Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka needed a strong start in the chase. But they lost wickets in clumps even before the run-chase effectively began. The top order tried to play the shots from the word go and left the team reeling at 26/4 in the sixth over. There was a slender of a hope when Angelo Mathews and Dhananjaya de Silva were batting well. The duo took on Indian bowling and played some gorgeous strokes.

But once the 68-run partnership was broken, Sri Lanka collapsed again. De Silva played a lonely hand which was actually worth watching but no other batsman stuck it out with him. While he scored 57 off 36 balls, Mathews did well to get to 31 off 20. These were the only two batsmen to get to to the double figures for the visitors as they were bundled out for 123 runs in the 16th over of the innings.

Navdeep Saini was once again the top bowler for India as he picked three wickets for just 28 runs. The hosts won the match comfortably by 78 runs to seal the series by 2-0.

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