Sri Lanka registered their first ever T20I series victory against India when they beat an under-strength visitors by seven wickets in the decider to clinch the three-match contest 2-1. Dasun Shanaka’s men came out all guns blazing to restrict India to 81/8 – their third-lowest T20I score – and then chased down with 33 balls to spare.
For India, leg-spinner Rahul Chahar was the only wicket-taker. He finished with 3-15 from four overs. The bowlers did not have much to defend, as 82 was never going to be challenging. The chase seemed a mere formality. Despite losing a few wickets upfront, Sri Lanka did not panic. In the end, Dhananjaya de Silva and Wanindu Hasaranga saw them home in the 15th over without much fuss.
The win was set up earlier in the day by the Sri Lankan bowlers, after Shikhar Dhawan won the toss and elected to bat.
Hasaranga was the wrecker-in-chief for Sri Lanka. He finished with career-best figures of 4-9. India were under pressure right from the start, when Dushmantha Chameera removed Dhawan for a duck. This laid the ideal platform for Hasaranga to come in and trouble the Indians with his variations.
Hasaranga removed Ruturaj Gaikwad and Sanju Samson in the span of three balls in the fifth over, forcing Bhuvneshwar Kumar had to come out inside the Powerplay as India were left tottering at 29/4.
India never recovered from that start. Bhuvneshwar (16) and Kuldeep Yadav (23) tried their best to give themselves something to bowl at, but Hasaranga removed both in his second spell to put the final nail in the coffin for the visitors.
For India, Sandeep Warrier made his debut in place of injured Navdeep Saini, but he did not get enough opportunity to showcase his talent.
Sri Lanka were led brilliantly by Shanaka, who also took a couple of blinders to support his bowlers. This was Shanaka’s second series win as captain. In 2019, he had led Sri Lanka to a 3-0 whitewash against Pakistan in Pakistan.
Brief scores: India 81/8 in 20 overs (Kuldeep Yadav 23*; Wanindu Hasaranga 4-9) lost to Sri Lanka 82/3 in 14.3 overs (Dhananjaya de Silva 23*; Rahul Chahar 3/15) by 7 wickets with 33 balls to spare. Player of the Match: Wanindu Hasaranga.
Sri Lanka won the series 2-1. Player of the Series: Wanindu Hasaranga.