Sri Lanka registered their first-ever series win against India in the shortest format after beating the visitors by 7 wickets in the deciding 3rd T20I.
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Sri Lanka recorded their first-ever triumph in a bilateral T20I series against India, following victory by a margin of seven wickets in the final T20I of the three-match series. The Lankans pulled off a comeback in the series, winning the last two matches after a defeat in the opener to emerge supreme by a 2-1 margin. This is Sri Lanka’s first T20I series triumph since 2019, with the Indian team suffering its maiden T20I series loss after two years. The hosts have further recorded their first series win against the visitors in any format of the game since 2008.
Captain Dasun Shanaka seems to be the lucky charm, with their last T20I series triumph against Pakistan recorded under his captaincy. Shanaka spearheaded his players on to a superb performance, relegating the Indian team to their third-lowest ever score in the shortest format of the game, in a do-or-die encounter. The visitors finished with a scoreline of 81 runs for the loss of eight wickets at a run rate of 4.05. The Men in Blue recorded their lowest score in T20Is in an encounter against Australia back in 2008, after being bowled out for 74. The second-lowest score was registered in a clash of the ICC T20 World Cup 2016 against New Zealand, with the Indian team bowled out for 79 runs in 18.1 overs.
Kuldeep Yadav was the highest run-scorer with 23 runs off 28 deliveries, in an innings that did not comprise of a single boundary or six. The innings marked the first-ever instance of an India men side batting all 20 overs of a T20I inning, without smashing a single hit into the stands.
Bhuvneshwar Kumar was the second-highest run-getter with 16 runs off 32 deliveries, with his knock similarly lacking a single big hit. Bhuvneshwar has now recorded the lowest strike rate in a men’s T20I innings, which has witnessed a minimum of 15 runs being scored. His strike rate of 50 tops the charts, with Mohammad Hafeez’s 53.5 in an encounter against India back in 2012 on the second spot.
The visitors earlier finished with a scoreline of 39 runs for the loss of five wickets at a run-rate of 3.9, at the end of 10 overs. This is their lowest ever score at the halfway mark. India’s five batters for the encounter Shikhar Dhawan, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Devdutt Padikkal, Sanju Samson and Nitish Rana were dismissed cheaply, in a do-or-die match.
The batsmen failed to make their presence felt, following some tight bowling by the Sri Lankan bowling attack comprising of Dushmantha Chameera, Ramesh Mendis, Wanindu Hasaranga, skipper Dasun Shanaka. Hasaranga was the pick of the bowlers, recording figures of 4/9 on his birthday. Shanaka chipped in with two wickets with Chameera and Mendis accounting for a dismissal apiece.
The chase was done and dusted in just 14.3 overs, with Dhananjaya de Silva (23* off 20 deliveries) the leading run-getter. Opener Minod Bhanuka (18) was the second highest run-scorer. Rahul Chahar made his presence felt with a fantastic performance, accounting for three dismissals.
