Amidst the threat of rain, the one and only T20I between Sri Lanka and India at the R Premadasa Stadium began 40 minutes past the scheduled start of play without any reduction in the overs. The hosts had the one last chance to restore some pride from the last game of the series, but Virat Kohli & Co. were ruthless once again and pulled off, what turned out be another one-sided victory.
Initially, Kohli won the toss and asked the opposition to bat first. The beginning for Sri Lanka was a mixed bag as there were some cracking strokes as well as the stumps also kept flying around. Where Bhuvneshwar Kumar castled Upul Tharanga, Jasprit Bumrah made a mess of Niroshan Dickwella’s stumps as the score read 60/2 after 6 overs.
Dilshan Munaweera played a brilliant knock and kept the team in the hunt He brought up his maiden half-century and scored 53 off just 29 balls. But after he got out in the 12th over, there was a pause in the scoring as the Indian spinners didn’t let the batsmen score freely.
From 99/3, the hosts were reduced to 134/7 in the 17th over. But Ashan Priyanjan and Isuru Udana played lovely cameos at the end and boosted the score to a competitive 170/7 at the end of 20 overs. Yuzvendra Chahal bagged 3 wickets and Kuldeep Yadav ended up with 2 scalps.
India’s chase didn’t get off to a great start as Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul went back inside the first powerplay and the visitors were in a slight spot of bother at 42/2. But the chase master Virat Kohli was at work again and found Manish Pandey for the support.
The duo went on the counter attack and added 119 runs for the 3rd wicket that closed the doors for a Sri Lankan comeback. Kohli mastered the chase beautifully with a knock of 82 off just 54 balls that included 7 fours and a six. He departed when just 10 runs were needed off 10 balls.
MS Dhoni had to walk in during the dying stages of the game but it was Manish Pandey who finished the innings with a boundary over mid-off that also gave him the maiden fifty in the format. India completed the victory by 7 wickets with 4 balls in hand and also clinched all 3 series on the tour without dropping a single game.
Here are the best tweets that appeared during India’s thumping win
Delighted to see Manish Pandey seize his opportunities. Has this wonderful ability to finish games
— Harsha Bhogle (@bhogleharsha) September 6, 2017
If ever there were rankings for wicketkeepers, @msdhoni will be on the sky with the rest daylights away #SLvIND #INDvSL
— Shubham Khare (@shubhamkhare71) September 6, 2017
T20: 1-0
Test: 3-0
ODIs: 5-0Sri Lanka Have Been Whitewashed Completely. India's Biggest Away Victory. #INDvSL #INDvsSL #Kohli pic.twitter.com/GhPMGpucva
— Sir Jadeja fan (@SirJadeja) September 6, 2017
Never leave the crease and ball together when @msdhoni is standing just behind you. #IndvsSL
— Ankit Agrawal (@agrawalankit568) September 6, 2017
Virat Kohli Becomes Fastest To 15000 Runs In International Cricket:
Inning
333 – #KOHLI
336 – Hashim Amla
344 – Viv Richards#IndvsSL— Harsh Asthana (@harsh_asthana07) September 6, 2017
https://twitter.com/vinaykrish7/status/905491091276783616
Clean Sweep in Tests
Clean Sweep in ODI's
And now Clean Sweep in T20's
Indian cricket team promoting Swachh Bhaarat Abhiyaan.#IndvsSL— Dolla Bill (@Trollsnpjs) September 6, 2017
https://twitter.com/PandaSampath/status/905445154047197184
https://twitter.com/sagarcasm/status/905477231471767552
Woah! A swinging knuckle ball from @BhuviOfficial
what innovation this T20 cricket has brought into the game #SLvIND #INDvSL— Shubham Khare (@shubhamkhare71) September 6, 2017
India started this series as favourites but to overwhelm the opposition 9-0 is quite staggering.
— Harsha Bhogle (@bhogleharsha) September 6, 2017
https://twitter.com/iambibhuprakash/status/905492660898619392
https://twitter.com/mohitkumar8055/status/905492611099639808
No of matches India won in Sri Lanka:
Between 1990 and 1999: Nine
This series: Ninehttps://t.co/qKnvAxScBa @gaurav_sundar— ESPNcricinfo (@ESPNcricinfo) September 6, 2017