Charith Asalanka disappointed by Sri Lanka's batting unit© AFP
After his side's defeat against India in the third T20I match of the series, Sri Lanka skipper Charith Asalanka said he was disappointed with their batting. Charith Asalanka was dismissed for a golden duck in the 17th over by Washington Sundar. Speaking after the match, Asalanka said he was not happy with the middle-order and late middle-order's performance and added that the players played bad shots. He also hoped his side would do better in the ODIs against India.
"I am really disappointed about our batting line-up, especially middle-order and late middle-order. Very bad shot selection was the reason. Spinners were bowling that's why Hasaranga came up the order. We gave him the license to hit one or two boundaries, that didn't work for us. Wrong shot selection on this pitch. When the ball gets old, our shot selection should be spot-on, it's really hard to bat on these tracks. Definitely (the target was gettable), we can't give excuses. As professional cricketers, we need to do little bit more than this. I want to see good batting performances in the ODIs, not like T20s. Our top three and four have done well and that's the only positive I have. Boys will do something better," Asalanka said.
Recapping the match, Sri Lanka won the toss and opted to bowl against India.
It was a team performance from the Men in Blue in the first innings, all the batters contributed while setting a target. Shubman Gill (39 runs from 37 balls, 3 fours) was the highest run-getter among his teammates. Riyan Parag (26 runs from 18 balls, 1 four and 2 sixes) and Washington Sundar (25 runs from 18 balls, 2 fours and 1 six) played a crucial role in the death overs and powered India to 137/9 after the end of the 20 overs.
Maheesh Theekshana led the Sri Lanka bowling attack and he bagged three wickets for 28 runs in his four-over spell. Wanindu Hasaranga also picked up two wickets and gave away 29 runs.
During the run chase, Kusal Perera (46 runs from 34 balls, 5 fours) and Kusal Mendis (43 runs from 41 balls, 3 fours) were the top performers for the hosts in the final T20I game of the series and propelled Sri Lanka to 137/8 to take the match into the super over. Opener Pathum Nissanka (26 runs from 27 balls, 5 fours) also played a supportive role while batting.
The talking point of the match is Rinku Singh and skipper Suryakumar Yadav taking two wickets each in their respective spells. The India skipper defended six runs in the final over and forced the match into the super over. Ravi Bishnoi and Washington Sundar also took two wickets in their respective spells.
In the super over, the hosts could only score 2/2 after batting first. While chasing, Suryakumar Yadav ended the match with the first ball after he smashed a sweep towards the short fine leg for a four.
Washington Sundar was named the Player of the Match. Meanwhile, Suryakumar Yadav was awarded the Player of the Series title.
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