Hasaranga dream spell sinks India

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Sri Lanka won the third and final T20I of the three-match T20I series against India by seven wickets.

By doing so, they clinched the series 2-1 on Thursday.

Batting first, the Indian team, full of new faces was restricted for a total of 81 runs in which was never going to be enough.

India were miles away from their best combination.

Several players in the squad were isolated after being deemed in close contact with all-rounder Krunal Pandya, who tested positive for COVID-19 on Tuesday.

Hasaranga creates havoc

India had already been two wickets down when Sri Lanka’s best bowler came to the crease.

Shikhar Dhawan had edged Chameera to wide slip in the first over off the first ball, he faced.

Next, Devdutt Padikkal had fallen leg before wicket to off-spinner Ramesh Mendis in the fourth over.

It was the perfect stage for Hasaranga, who was celebrating his 24th birthday.

In his fourth ball, he trapped Sanju Samson in front of middle stump with a fast leg-break.

Samson didn’t even bother to review after clearly missing his across-the-line shot.

Two balls later, Hasaranga bowled a straight one that bounced and caught Ruturaj Gaikwad leg before.

Later, he had Bhuvneshwar Kumar caught at extra-cover, and then Varun Chakravarthy at short midwicket.

He finished with figures of 4 for 9 from his four overs, the best of his career.

Only three Indian batsmen reached double digits, with Kuldeep Yadav at number seven scoring the highest 23 not out.

Kuldeep remained at the crease for 11 overs as India managed to play the full 20 overs and cross their lowest score (74 runs, vs Australia, 2008).

This is India’s lowest score in T20 after playing full 20 overs.

The entire Indian innings yielded just four boundaries.

Rahul Chahar shines

The result was a mere formality but Rahul Chahar made sure to grab the headlines with a fine display.

Thanks to Chahar’s big spinning leg-breaks, the match turned out to be slightly interesting.

Chahar snapped up a return catch off Avishka Fernando in the final over of the power-play.

He then turned one past the bat of Minod Bhanuka to get him lbw.

His third wicket was due to a top-spinner that Sadeera Samarawickrama saw too late, and got him clean bowled.

Chahar finished with 3 for 15 – the second-best figures in the game.

For Sri Lanka, Dhananjaya de Silva played with caution and stuck around until the winning runs were scored.

He remained 23 not out off 20 balls.

Hasaranga was at the crease with him, having hit 14 off nine, which completed a memorable day for him..

Wanindu Hasaranga was adjudged the Player of the Match and Player of the Series

Sri Lanka 82 for 3 (de Silva 23*, R Chahar 3-15) beat India 81 for 8 (Yadav 23*, Hasaranga 4-9, Shanaka 2-20) by seven wickets