What India pulled off last night against Sri Lanka was nothing less than magic. While chasing India’s moderate total of 137/9, Sri Lanka were cruising at 117/3 in the 17th over. Then, India won the match.
Rohit Sharma, under whose captaincy the Men in Blue won the T20 World Cup 2024, has reacted to India’s whitewash 3-0 series victory against the hosts.
According to Sharma, it was the “perfect start”. It was unclear whether Rohit meant it was the “perfect start” for Suryakumar Yadav and Gautam Gambhir as India’s T20I captain and coach, respectively, or for India in the Sri Lanka tour.
“Well done Team India,” Rohit wrote. He will captain India in the ODI series against Sri Lanka. India will play 3 ODI cricket matches against the hosts, on August 2, 4 and 7, respectively.
In the first innings, India delivered a team performance with all batters contributing to setting a target. Shubman Gill led with 39 runs off 37 balls, followed by crucial contributions from Riyan Parag (26 off 18 balls) and Washington Sundar (25 off 18 balls) in the death overs.
Maheesh Theekshana spearheaded Sri Lanka's bowling, taking 3 wickets for 28 runs while Wanindu Hasaranga took 2 for 29 runs.
Kusal Perera (46 off 34 balls) and Kusal Mendis (43 off 41 balls) were the leading scorers for Sri Lanka. India’s surprise package was Rinku Singh and captain Suryakumar Yadav as death bowlers. Each of them took 2 wickets. SKY defending 6 runs in the final over to force Sri Lanka into the Super Over. Ravi Bishnoi and Washington Sundar also took 2 wickets each.
In the Super Over, Sri Lanka scored just 2 runs while losing 2 wickets, which were claimed by Washington Sundar. For India, Suryakumar Yadav ended the match on the first ball by hitting a four.
Washington Sundar was named Player of the Match. Suryakumar Yadav received the Player of the Series award, and Rinku Singh won the Fielder of the Series award.
