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India vs Sri Lanka 2021, 3rd T20I: All-round Lanka tames India by 7 wickets to script series win

India and Sri Lanka are engaged in a three-match Twenty20 International series at the R Premadasa Stadium in Colombo. While the series was locked at 1-1, both sides battled it out to have the last laugh, as Lanka had the upper hand throughout the third T20I.

India vs Sri Lanka 2021, 3rd T20I: Report, scorecard, result, winner-ayh
Author
Colombo, First Published Jul 29, 2021, 9:42 PM IST

India suffered a hard fate after being restricted to 81/8. At the same time, Sri Lanka chased it down comfortably to win by seven wickets in the third and final Twenty20 International at the R Premadasa Stadium in Colombo on Thursday, thanks to spinner Wanindu Hasaranga's magical spell of 4/9 and Dhananjaya de Silva's unbeaten 23.

Winning the toss, Indian skipper Shikhar Dhawan elected to bat, as he was forced to make an injury change from the last game, bringing in Sandeep Warrier for Navdeep Saini. Meanwhile, Lankan skipper Dasun Shanaka too made a change, replacing Isuru Udana with Pathum Nissanka.

The Indians were off to a horror start, losing their opening four wickets within the powerplay itself, with Dhawan (0), Devdutt Padikkal (9), Sanju Samson (0) and Ruturaj Gaikwad (14), successively, with just 25 runs on the board. Just 11 runs later, half of the side was dismissed, with Nitish Rana falling for a mere six to Shanaka in the ninth over.

With the tail-enders starting to come in, it was sure to be an arduous task for them. Although the pair of Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Kuldeep Yadav looked to consolidate, it was at 55 in the 15th over when Hasaranga got rid of the former for 16.

Seven runs later, Rahul Chahar was dismissed for five by the skipper in the 16th. In contrast, just a run later, Varun Chakravarthy followed him back for an unfortunate duck to Hasaranga in the following over.

It was the lack of partnerships that failed to get India going. Nonetheless, Kuldeep and Chetan Sakariya stood until the end to contribute to an 18-run stand for the ninth wicket, while India finished on a below-par total of 81/8.

As for the Lankans, six bowlers were utilised, with Hasaranga being the most effective, thanks to his four-for. Interestingly, he was also the most economical of all.

In reply, Lanka was off to a slow yet watchful start, losing just a wicket in the powerplay, as Avishka Fernando was dismissed for 12 in the sixth over to spinner Rahul Chahar, with 23 runs on the board. 12 runs later, in the eighth over, fellow opener Minod Bhanuka was trapped leg-before to the same man in the eighth over to the same man.

Yet, Lanka was not startled, as it had the momentum on its side. In the 12th over, at 56, Sadeera Samarawickrama was cleaned up by Chahar for just six, as he was acting as the pillar for de Silva, with the latter steering the innings.

However, de Silva and Hasaranga saw out the remainder of the match, winning by seven wickets with 33 balls to spare. For India, just five bowlers were utilised, with Chahar being the most effective and economical of all.
Brief scores: India 81/8 (Kuldeep- 23*; Hasaranga- 4/9) lost to Sri Lanka 82/3 in 14.3 overs (de Silva- 23*; Chahar- 3/15) by seven wickets.

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