And India completes its final T20I before the T20 World Cup in October with a humbling defeat. However, this would in no way take snatch the confidence of these youngsters - most of them weren't even in contention to feature in this series until Tuesday evening! A big ask of replacing nine players and fielding a makeshift XI eventually dealt a big blow for India over the last couple of days.
Credit for the spirit of a wounded Lankan side as well. After a series of mishaps that ensued in the lead-up to this series, the Lankans have completed quite an overhaul under its new skipper, Dasun Shanaka. The series has also proven to be a cradle of a new set of bankable stars for the home side with the likes of Charith Asalanka, Chamika Karunaratne emerging to the series while Wanindu Hasaranga returned in full tilt.
Well, Indian fans buckle up and let this one pass quickly! White-ball action recedes for action in whites next week as Virat Kohli's senior Indian side takes on England in the first Test at Nottingham. See you there folks, good night.
SL 82/3 in 14.3 overs: A historic win for the Lankans as they end India's series-win streak!
A poor delivery down leg concedes a wide and an ordinary finish to a special win for Shanaka's men at home!
SL 77/3 in 14 overs: SL nearly there! Warrier's unfortunate return sees an overthrow run onto the boundary after he concedes a four to de Silva early on in the over. The heads are down and India is already conceding defeat. SL needs 5 to win
SL 66/3 in 13 overs: SL tilts the momentum instantly. Kuldeep loses his momentum once again after a fine start and Hasaranga slaps him off a shot ball to the boundary at midwicket. 17 away from a big win!
SL 56/3 in 12 overs: Chahar to Samarawickrama! OUT! A snorter to finish his spell! Samarawickrama has no answers to the guile of Chahar who castles the batter with a sharp ball that hits middle and retains shop to smash the top of off. What a spell from Chahar and had India managed another 30 runs, we would have been in for a humdinger. Sadeera Samarawickrama b Chahar 6 (13b)
SL 48/2 in 11 overs: Massive drift for Kuldeep to start proceedings! de Silva plays all around the ball that hits the length and zips down leg sharply as the de Silva jumps down to attack. Samson does well to make a fine grab that denies an extra five runs to the home side.
Kuldeep into the attack
SL 42/2 in 10 overs: India loses a review after Chahar lands the ball on the full onto Samarawickrama's toe. The umpire denies instantly but the leggie is adamant for a review. Replays suggest the ball is missing the stumps by a fine margin and the batter survives. Chahar is at his best as he keeps the batters on their toes. They negotiate carefully and resort to singles to see him off.
SL 37/2 in 9 overs: Chakravarthy is sharp on return for his second spell. The carrom ball nearly foxes Dhananjaya who sets himself outside off for the sweep. The ball brushes his arm and nearly runs into the stumps and Varun is unlucky to claim a prize in this over.
SL 35/2 in 8 overs: Chahar to Minod. OUT! Straight through his defense and plumb in front! Exquisite guile and rhythm from the young leggie in this over and he gets his due. Minod does not expect the ball to run into him off the length, but Chahar zips in an excellent leg-break. The ball beats his bat and hits the pad, plumb in front and the umpire has no hesitation in raising the finger. Minod Bhanuka lbw b Chahar 18 (27b 1x4)
SL 33/1 in 7 overs: Minod sets up well to deal with Warrier this time. Warrier pumps one short and Minod nonchalantly arches back and guides the ball over the keeper to the third man boundary. SL needs 50 runs to win in 13 overs
SL 23/1 in 6 overs: Chahar to Fernando. OUT!Fantastic take from the bowler! Short and the ball stops a little before jumping onto Avishka who rocks back in the crease. He checks his short at the last moment and the ball simply lobs back to Chahar who swiftly dives to his left to complete a fine catch. Avishka Fernando c & b Chahar 12 (18b 1x4)
Chahar into the attack
SL 22/0 in 5 overs: Fine start for Warrier. He hits the length and forces the ball into Fernando and Minod who leans forward to avoid the ball hitting the pads. Last over of the Powerplay coming up and India would need a couple of breakthroughs right here.
Warrier replaces Bhuvneshwar
SL 20/0 in 4 overs: Varun's lack of consistency in length makes him waft in a slow short delivery. Avishka sets up well and swivel pulls it over midwicket to the boundary. India simply cannot afford even a short burst from the batters. Fernando and Bhanuka is carefully setting up a chase once again.
SL 12/0 in 3 overs: A couple of streaky strokes from the batters fall away from the fielders and Bhuvneshwar's unfortunate to strike in this over. Fernando chops one off the length and the ball has a slow run to the boundary and the openers run in three runs to keep the board ticking.
SL 5/0 in 2 overs: Varun starts with a couple of length deliveries that move into Fernando. He's not a bowler that you'd like to face first-up on such a wicket. Three runs come off it but hardly any pressure on the home side.
Chakravarthy from the other end
SL 2/0 in 1 over: Cracking start from Bhuvneshwar as he gets the ball to move quickly through the air to either side. Minod struggles and gets beaten twice on the trot before Bhuvneshwar hits the pads with a sharp in-swinger to complete the over.
Bhuvneshwar with the new ball
On for the final innings of the series. Avishka Fernando and Minod Bhanuka walk out to the middle. Dhawan's men take their positions without much vigour on display.
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The Indians are as confused as they can ever get and the forced smiles on the faces in the dugout says it all. They would have, at most, expected a strong fight to finish by the home side like yesterday but this was a perfect demolition. Dhawan's punt to bat first on a fresher wicket received its first blow when the skipper fell for a first-ball duck in the first over. There were no twists and turns since as the graph constantly picked up pace, down the grid. Padikkal's bizarre run out, Samson's disastrous start among other poor moments did well to expose the nerves in the young squad. But take nothing away from Shanaka's men who were upto the task from ball one. Hasaranga - the birthday boy - was once again at the fore as he snapped Samson and Gaikwad in his first over and triggered the massive collapse. Nothing short of a miracle and full-on aggression can help India to stage a fight back in the decider!
IND 81/8 in 20 overs:
And that's that! India has seen through the full quota and wriggles to just above 80 runs in 20 overs!
IND 75/8 in 19 overs: Kuldeep and Sakariya have opted to put the hard yards as they run in eight runs to move past India's lowest score in T20Is.
IND 66/8 in 18 overs: Chameera steams in pumps the ball in to Kuldeep and Sakariya. Well, the sluggish affair continues as just two runs come off the over with 12 balls to spare. India needs a miracle to reach the three-figures.
IND 63/8 in 17 overs: Hasaranga to Varun. OUT! Chipped straight to short mid wicket. Outfoxes the new batter with a classic change in pace. Varun fails to spot it and gets a leading edge straight to the fielder. What a spell on his birthday, Hasaranga finishes with staggering figures of 4/9 in 4 overs! Chakravarthy c Karunaratne b Hasaranga 0(2)
IND 62/7 in 16 overs: Shanaka to Chahar. OUT! Straight up and an easy catch for the keeper. Chahar finds India's first boundary since 70 balls and Shanaka finishes the over on a high. Slowed bumper follows Chahar onto this shoulders and he taps the ball straight up. Rahul Chahar c †Bhanuka b Shanaka 5 (5b 1x4)
IND 55/6 in 15 overs: Hasaranga to Bhuvneshwar. OUT! Another stunner at covers! Bhuvi finally loses his resolve and goes for the drive off a nice tempter from Hasaranga. And it's that man again at covers! Shanaka clings onto another one-hander as India stoops further down the barrel. Bhuvneshwar Kumar c Shanaka b PWH de Silva 16 (32b)
IND 53/5 in 14 overs: 50 up for India. A demoralising feat is striked away as Kuldeep and Bhuvneshwar nudges about the inner circle to add a couple of more runs to the total. Fair to note that Bhuvi is looking the best among the batters against the Lankan spinners tonight.
IND 48/5 in 13 overs: A bit more positive strides from Bhuvneshwar, Kuldeep as they convert ones into twos (just twice) with India nearing the 50-run mark.
IND 43/5 in 12 overs: Dananjaya draws Bhuvneshwar forward and he is happy to present a dead bat defence to see off the drifter. One run and even the 50-run mark looks a good couple of overs out from India's reach!
IND 42/5 in 11 overs: Bhuvneshwar keeps a calm end in the chaos and holds shape for the moment. Shanaka continue to attack the stumps and just three runs come off the over. With Kuldeep at the other end, there's limited options for Bhuvi and India to make a move forward.
IND 39/5 in 10 overs: At the halfway stage, India has Kuldeep and Bhuvneshwar at the crease. The aspirations of a strong total would certainly have taken a hit in the dressing room. Boundaries seems to be a luxury that India can't afford at the moment.
IND 36/5 in 9 overs: Shanaka to Rana. OUT! WOW Shanaka! He just can't exist without a wicket off his first over! The gentle off-cutter rolls in to Rana who simply wafts it back to the left of Shanaka. The skipper cannot set a foot wrong at the moment as he complets a splendid one-handed diving catch to put India into a deep pit. Nitish Rana c & b Shanaka 6 (15b)
Shanaka is in.
IND 35/4 in 8 overs: Dananjaya comes in and simply springs through his over. Rana and Bhuvneshwar have simply deserted the slogs and continues to prod and push their way out of trouble.
IND 33/4 in 7 overs: Hasaranga continues to drift the ball in, but Rana does well to stretch behind the line of the ball and pierce the gaps.
IND 29/4 in 6 overs:
Would you believe it? India's got its vice-captain Bhuvneshwar Kumar and a young Nitish Rana to wade through the final Powerplay over. Mendis follows a tight line and the batters tread cautiously with a few singles.
IND 25/4 in 5 overs: Hasaranga is on a roll! Two in one over as Samson and Gaikwad find themselves trapped plumb in front. Shoddy work from Samson as he continues to find new way to frustrate his fans. A risky shot against Hasaranga's googly as he slides the bat to the on-side. Hasaranga beats the beat fair and square and traps right in front. Gaikwad gets a similar ball but he prods forward to defend but misses it completely. What a start for Sri Lanka, what a start for the wily leggie! Sanju Samson lbw b PWH de Silva 0 (3b), Ruturaj Gaikwad lbw b PWH de Silva 14 (10b 2x4)
Birthday boy Hasaranga is in.
IND 23/2 in 4 overs: Mendis to Padikkal. OUT! Padikkal is run out in bizarre fashion! Mendis darts one in to hit Padikkal high on the pads and umpire Dharmasena freezes for a moment. However, Padikkal runs forward in a daze and the Lankans complete an easy run out. Devdutt Padikkal lbw b Mendis 9 (15b 1x4)
Mendis replaces Karunaratne
IND 14/1 in 3 overs: Chameera is fired up and continues to drill the ball in a beautiful channel to Padikkal. He gives away just two runs as Padikkal struggles to find his timing against the Lankan quick.
IND 12/1 in 2 overs: Padikkal opens his account with a gorgeous drive through the covers. A hint of width and the lefty is quick on it. Karunaratne hits the deck hard and forces the batters to exchange strike with a couple of singles to finish the over.
Karunaratne from the other end
IND 5/1 in 1 over: Chameera to Dhawan. OUT! Edged and taken in the slips! Dhawan out for a golden duck! Top start for Chameera and Sri Lanka. He forces Dhawan to push off a ball just outside the off-stump. Hits the deck and gets a fraction of seam movement. Dhawan goes for the drive and gets a thick edge off the shoulder of his blade. de Silva at first slip leaps forward and completes a fine catch to jolt India first-up in the decider! Dhawan c de Silva b Chameera 0(1)
Dushmantha Chameera with the new ball
Game ON! Shikhar Dhawan and Ruturaj Gaikwad are at the middle.
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7:55PM: Massive day for Sanju Samson among all other batters in this series. He would be the first to acknowledge the deep tussle in order to receive a spot in the Indian batting order, having nearly waited for five years before his 2nd T20I and over six years to his ODI debut. The early numbers are not in his favour and with a series on the line, a top show could just help to keep him in contention for the T20 World Cup.
7:52PM: Moments away from the start. Sri Lanka has opted for an extra batter in the lineup while India has made more of a forced change with Warrier coming in for Saini, despite the side being short on a few heavy hitters in the lineup.
TOSS: IND wins toss, opts to bat first
- India has used 19 players in this series - the joint most in any T20I series in history
Dasun Shanaka:
We are happy to bowl first. Early wickets is going to do the trick. It'll be a big win for us. Winning is very important, it'll be very nice. Isuru Udana is out, Pathum Nissanka comes in.
Shikhar Dhawan: We are gonna bat first. We'll look to post a good score. Our bowling is quite strong, so we are going to defend. We are just focusing on today's game, we are not going to take any pressure from the past. He (Saini) is injured. We've got Sandeep Warrier; he's debuting today
BCCI UPDATE: Navdeep Saini suffered a left shoulder injury while fielding during the second T20I vs Sri Lanka on 28th July. He might have to undergo scans to ascertain the extent of injury . His progress is being monitored by the medical staff. Sandeep Warrier makes his T20I debut.
Toss time
7:29PM IST: Live visuals show Rahul Dravid and Shikhar Dhawan have a brief chat at pitchside. Would want to pace the batting perfectly tonight on a fresher wicket.
7:25PM IST: Sandeep Warrier to make his IND debut
7:05PM IST: Murali Karthik says to the broadcasters that the pitch that will be used tonight is a fresh one with respect to the series, but seems a little worn down with a lot of trampling on it today. It remains largely dry anything between 150-160 would be a challenging score.
7:00PM IST: Half an hour to the Toss. India's diminished batting line-up is a concern, however, the visitor do not have another batter at its disposal in the squad. It's best bet would be to bring in young Tamil Nadu spinner Sai Kishore with Navdeep Saini's participation remaining in doubt.
Numbers Game
- Sanju Samson has the least T20I Average for India for a min.100 runs -13.00 - Sanju Samson*in nine innings
- Bhuvneshwar Kumar became the fourth Indian bowler to reach 50 T20I wickets
- Sri Lanka record just its second win against India in the last 13 T20Is in the second T20I
MATCH PREVIEW
Well, it all boils down to the final match of the series. Not perhaps in the most intriguing manner, but Sri Lanka has managed to cling on with the skin of its teeth and struck a blow when India was at its most vulnerable phase.
With COVID-19 disrupting India's plans, striking nine of its mainstream players from the squad, India was forced into fielding a makeshift XI in the second series with a dwindled batting lineup that had Bhuvneshwar Kumar come in at no.6. India struggled on sluggish track and Dhawan's slow anchor from one end was not enough to prevent a slow-paced blow-up. The youngsters Ruturaj and Devdutt displayed promise but the pressure of a reeling scoreboard got to them, forcing them to play unwarranted strokes to curtail their stay at the crease.
READ:
Sanju Samson had massive expectations on his sleeves once again, but forced himself into a rut before giving way. 7 off 13 would never sit pretty with the class of Samson, however, the Rajasthan Royals skipper has failed to reincarnate his IPL blitz in the India blues. Samson heads into the series decided with an average of under 14 in nine innings in T20Is, and with all on the line tonight, the 26-year-old would well know that this could be his final chance to impress the management to stay in contention amidst a host of batting superstars. Lots on the line tonight for Sri Lanka as well.
Shanaka, the skipper, has gone about his role with good awareness and nous across the whole limited-overs series. Though the results have been topsy-turvy, Sri Lanka would be content with its new leader for now and a series win here could well be a much-needed morale booster ahead of its T20 World Cup qualifiers in October.
Squads:
When will the 3rdd T20I between Sri Lanka and India start and where to watch?
The thirdd T20I between India and Sri Lanka will begin at 8pm IST at the R. Premadasa Stadium in Colombo. The Toss will occur at 7:30pm.
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