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Suryakumar Yadav’s scintillating unbeaten century of 112 off 51 balls and a collective dominating performance by the bowlers powered India to a commanding 2-1 series win over Sri Lanka after a convincing 91 run-win in the third and final T20I at the Saurashtra Cricket Association Stadium in Rajkot, on Saturday.
With his beautiful wristy shots in every corner of the ground, Suryakumar made the opponent team feel helpless, not respecting any bowler to guide India to a mammoth total of 228/5 in 20 overs. Apart from Suryakumar, Shubman Gill scored a decent knock, scoring 46 off 36 with two fours and three sixes while Rahul Tripathi gave India some quick runs in the Power-play with his 35 off 16 at a strike rate of 218.75 with five fours and two sixes.
Chasing a huge total, the Sri Lankan side was under huge pressure. However, opener Pathum Nissanka’s 15 off 17 and 23 off 15 from his partner Kusal Mendis gave Sri Lanka a solid start of 44 runs with regular boundaries against Indian fast bowlers.
After the pacers went for runs, India captain Hardik Pandya introduced spin bowler Axar Patel, who in his very first over dismissed Mendis. In the very next over after Mendis was dismissed, Arshdeep Singh took the wicket of Nissanka as Sri Lanka found themselves at 51/2 after the end of the power-play.
On the first ball of the seventh over, all-rounder Pandya got Avishka Fernando at a score of 1 off 3 balls. On the other hand, leg-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal, who hadn’t been in his rhythm in the series, showed better control at Rajkot with the ball and got his reward by picking the wicket of Charith Asalanka at 19 off 14 as Sri Lanka found themselves in trouble at 84/4 in 9.3 overs at drinks.
Although captain Dasun Shanaka with his 23 off 17, and Dhananjaya de Silva’s 22 off 14 tried their level best, the task proved to be too big for them. Arshdeep, who made a comeback after a horrible last game where he bowled five no-balls, picked two wickets in the 17th over as Sri Lanka were bowled out at 137/10 in 16.3 overs with 21 balls remaining as India wrapped up a 91-run in the third T20I.
A 91-run win and a series victory for India in Rajkot!#INDvSL | 📝Scorecard: https://t.co/v6DELbUa9F pic.twitter.com/xnh2ZFOcB5
— ICC (@ICC) January 7, 2023
Left-arm pacer Arshdeep was the most successful bowler for India with his 3/20, while Yuzvendra Chahal’s 2/30, Hardik Pandya’s 2/30 and Umran Malik’s 2/31 picked two wickets each with Axar Patel also getting one wicket with his 1/19.
Earlier, India, who opted to bat first after winning the toss, lost their first wicket early as Ishan Kishan fished a delivery outside off and edged behind a swinging bouncing delivery from Madushanka in the very first over of the innings.
Kishan’s opening partner Shubman Gill also struggled initially to open his account in his first nine balls before smashing Madushanka for a six and a four in back-to-back deliveries to get things going.
Batting at No.3, Rahul Tripathi showed his positive intent by hitting Maheesh Theekshana for three fours in an over. Tripathi smashed five fours and two sixes in his quick-fire innings of 35 off 16 balls to give the much-needed momentum to the Indian innings before getting out caught in the sixth over off Chamika Karunaratne.
However, Tripathi’s innings meant that India finished the Power-play at 53/2, which was good after they lost Kishan in the first over as Gill was batting steadily at the other end.
But, it was Suryakumar Yadav coming at No.4, who took little time to hit the ball from his sweet spot of the bat and toyed with Sri Lankan bowlers by hitting them all around the park. The stylish batter got going with a four and a six off Karunaratne, driving over mid-off and executing the whip-pull. He also smashed a short ball from Wanindu Hasaranga past point for a four.
Theekshana kept things quiet for an over, but the visitors couldn’t keep Surya quiet for too long. A four coming down the track to Karunaratne followed by a typical scoop over fine leg for a six from Suryakumar helped India past 100 in the 11th over, and also brought up his half-century stand of 29 deliveries with Gill, who was at the best position at the other end to watch the ball sail over the boundary line.
A boundary over extra cover brought the 14th T20I half-century for Suryakumar in just 26-balls. It was also Surya’s ninth fifty-plus score (including a century) in his last 15 innings as India were 131/2 after 13 overs.
After watching Suryakumar’s brilliance from the other end, Gill also decided to free his arms and hit Hasaranga for an 84m six over mid-wicket. However, the spinner had the last laugh as he deceived Gill by the length and bowled him, leaving India at 163-3 after 14.4 overs.
Once Gill got out, the stage was set for finisher Hardik Pandya to finish India’s innings on a high. However, it was not his day as he got out for just 4 runs. Deepak Hooda, who came next, started his innings with a four but got out on the very next ball off Madushanka at a score of 4 off 2 deliveries.
But, Suryakumar was unstoppable as he slammed his third T20I century in just 45 balls, which was the second fastest half-century by an Indian in T20I after Rohit Sharma, who got the milestone in just 35 deliveries against the same opposition Sri Lanka, in 2017.
All-rounder Axar Patel continued his dream run with the bat with a cameo of an unbeaten 21 off 9 towards the end. With both Suryakumar and Axar smashing boundaries, India scored 28 runs in the last two overs and posted a total of 228/5 in 20 overs.
Suryakumar Yadav was awarded Player of the Match for his unbelievable innings of 112 not out off 51 deliveries while Axar Patel was awarded Player of the Series for scoring 117 runs and taking 3 wickets in the three-match T20I series.
Brief scores: India 228/5 in 20 overs (Suryakumar Yadav 112 not out, Shubman Gill 46, Rahul Tripathi 35; Dilshan Madushanka 2-55) beat Sri Lanka 137 all out in 16.4 overs (Kusal Mendis 23, Dasun Shanaka 23; Arshdeep Singh 3-20) by 91 runs.
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