India worked as a cohesive unit to take down Sri Lanka in Pune
Image courtesy of: BCCI
India put on a clinical all-round performance in the third Twenty20 International in Pune to demolish Sri Lanka by 78 runs and win the series 2-0.
Being put in to bat first, India got off to a wonderful start as openers Shikhar Dhawan and Lokesh Rahul amassed a 97-run partnership, during which Dhawan brought up his fifty, before he was dismissed by Lakshan Sandakan for 52, which came off 36 balls and included seven boundaries and a six.
Sanju Samson only made six runs before he was trapped lbw off the bowling of Wanindu Hasaranga.
Rahul went on to score a 36-ball 54, which included five boundaries and a six, before he was stumped by Kusal Perera off the bowling of Sandakan.
Sandakan got his third when he caught Shreyas Iyer off his own bowling.
With captain Virat Kohli, Manish Pandey and Shardul Thakur scoring 26, 31 not out and 22 not out, India finished on 201/6 off their 20 overs.
Sandakan was the pick of the bowlers with three wickets, while Hasaranga and Lahiru Kumara chipped in with one wicket apiece.
Chasing 202 to win, Sri Lanka got off to a disastrous start as opener Danushka Gunathilaka was caught by Washington Sundar at mid-on off the bowling of Jasprit Bumrah for one run.
Avishka Fernando mustered nine runs before he was removed by Thakur, while Oshada Fernando was run out by Pandey for two runs.
With Kusal Perera being clean bowled by Navdeep Saini for seven runs, Sri Lanka found themselves in all sorts of trouble at 26/4.
Dhananjaya de Silva and Angelo Mathews halted India’s charge with a 68-run partnership before Mathews was dismissed by Sundar for 31.
Sri Lanka continued to lose wickets in a hurry after Mathews’ dismissal.
Even though De Silva smashed a 36-ball 57, which included eight boundaries and a six, Sri Lanka fell well short of their target as they were bowled out for 123.
Saini was the most successful bowler with three wickets, while Thakur and Sundar took two wickets apiece. As for Bumrah, he claimed one.
Thakur was named Man of the Match.