Jaydev Unadkat finished with figures of 2-15 off his four overs
Image courtesy of: ESPNcricinfo
Jaydev Unadkat took figures of 2-15 to lead India to a five-wicket win over Sri Lanka in the third Twenty20 International in Mumbai.
After losing the toss and being sent in to bat, Sri Lanka struggled right from the get-go as Unadkat and debutant Washington Sundar ripped through their top order.
With Sri Lanka reeling at 18/3, Asela Gunaratne and Sadeera Samarawickrama managed to add 38 runs to their score before Samarawickrama was dismissed by Hardik Pandya for 21.
Once Samarawickrama was gone, Sri Lanka continued to lose wickets at regular intervals, including that of Gunaratne, who went on to score a 37-ball 36, which included three boundaries.
Dasun Shanaka gave Sri Lanka a much-needed boost towards the end of their innings as he smashed an unbeaten 29 to help them finish on 135/7 off their 20 overs.
Unadkat and Pandya picked up two wickets apiece, while Sundar, Kuldeep Yadav and Mohammed Siraj chipped in with one wicket each.
Chasing 136 to win, India lost Lokesh Rahul and stand-in captain Rohit Sharma early on.
However, Shreyas Iyer and Manish Pandey stabilised the innings with a 42-run partnership before Iyer was run out by Akila Dananjaya for 30.
Pandya fell shortly after, while Pandey proceeded to score 32 before being clean bowled by Dushmantha Chameera.
Despite losing a few quick wickets, Dinesh Karthik and Mahendra Singh Dhoni mopped up the remaining runs to lead India to victory with four balls to spare.
Chameera and Shanaka claimed two wickets apiece.
Despite losing the series 3-0, Sri Lanka stand-in captain Thisara Perera praised his side, saying: “As a captain I’m really proud of the bowling unit for defending 130 like this. I’m proud of my team mates. We’ve always had a good fielding coach and that’s we’ve really improved out fielding as well.
“We have learnt lots on this tour. We all know India is a big team at the moment. We’ve learnt a lot of things and we have to continue our performance. Our batting has to click and I think we will go a long way.”
Rohit was glad to have won the series 3-0, and said: “We were playing with seven batters, plus Washington is a good batsman as well so we backed ourselves to go and get it. It’s something we discussed at the start of the tour as well, that we want to play with six batsmen and an all-rounder. Very happy with the way we played in the ODI and T20 series. I think it’s a team effort.
“The work ethic of each and every guy. They’ve done their homework thoroughly. It showed they were ready for the opportunity. Lot of the guys were playing their first or second game but it didn’t feel like that. It was our job as the team management to back them completely.
“Looking forward to the SA tour. It’s going to be a different challenge. But I want to reiterate about our home season – it’s never easy to beat anyone. We were challenged at different times and we came back.”
Unadkat was named Man of the Match and Man of the Series, and said: “Things went really well for me. I had some plans and I had my preparations before the series. To bowl in the Powerplay was something I was looking forward to doing.
“It’s been long [since debut] I’ve been through the domestic circuit and played a lot there. That really helped mature me as a player. Having played so early gave me a boost. I’m thankful to the management for backing me. The most important phase for any cricketer is the domestic circuit where you bowl on the flat tracks in this country; and you keep going through the grind.
“To come out well really gives you the confidence. I was always eager to do well for the nation. To come and give my best whenever I got a chance with these guys.”