SL VS IND 3RD T20I

As for now, the focus shifts to a bigger format, the ODIs. With all these T20s going around, it is hard for fans to stay patient for a 50-over game, but if there is the excitement to see the likes of Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Kuldeep Yadav and a score of the World Cup stars returning, there would be very few to take a risk of choosing to miss them in action. So you don't take the risk either! Sri Lanka will have to pull up their socks if they have to put on a better show. The first ball will be bowled at 2.30 PM IST (0900 GMT) on Friday, 2nd August, 2024, but our build-up will begin much earlier than usual. So please tune in. Until then, you can catch action from the Hundred and a couple of other T20 Leagues by switching our tabs. ADIOS! TAKE CARE!

Congratulations to Gautam Gambhir and Suryakumar Yadav for putting their stepping stone correctly. Knowing Gambhir, for now, he will take 3-0 and allow the players to celebrate, but once the celebrations die down, he will have a quiet word with the team. By no means would the batting department be happy with the batting on show and it was more due to poor shots by Indians than due to better bowling by Sri Lanka. In the bowling, he would hope that the Parags and Suryas become the Rainas and Sehwags of the future. Remember, Jaiswal can bowl leggies too. But that's for sometime later.

The Indian skipper, SURYAKUMAR YADAV, HAS BEEN NAMED AS THE PLAYER OF THE SERIES. He says that he feels that when they were 30/4, the boys showed great character and the way they batted was great. He says that 140 was a par score and says that he told if they put their heart in, they could pull it off. Mentions that the amount of skills they have, it makes his job easy as the skipper. Says that after the first game, he told the boys to be rested and they were ready to sit out. Ends by saying, he doesn't want to be the captain, but a leader.

The captain of Sri Lanka, CHARITH ASALANKA, expresses disappointment with the way the middle order and the lower middle order batted. Feels that the shot selection let them down. On the thinking behind sending Hasaranga up the order, he replies that they promoted him because the spinners were bowling and gave him the licence to play the big shots. Opines that shot selection needs to be spot on such surfaces. On what he looks forward to in the ODI series, he says that he hopes to see good batting performances in that series.

As expected, WASHINGTON SUNDAR HAS BEEN NAMED AS THE PLAYER OF THE MATCH, for his all-round show. He says he tried to stay calm and thanks Suryakumar Yadav for throwing the ball to him in the Super Over. Says he is grateful to get an opportunity to play for India. Adds he just tries to work hard daily and God has been kind to him. Mentions that they did a bit of homework against the opposition batters. Tells that there was some purchase from the surface and the ball was gripping nicely. Adds he just had to hit the right lines and lengths. He ends up with a broad smile and says he is delighted to see that things worked in their favour.

... THE PRESENTATION ...

Well, that wasn't the presentation. It is about to begin now.

RIYAN PARAG is in for a chat. He expresses disappointment for not managing to bat through and feels that if he had been there till the end, the team could have got 160. Mentions that the talk between him and Shubman Gill was to take it deep and accelerate later. Feels that it was easy to get carried away with the ball turning and it was important for him to bowl it in the right areas. Tells that he has been working on his leg breaks. Shares that they as a team, always look to play hard but at the same time, look to have fun as well.

GG (Gautam Gambhir) is smiling! Yeah, you bet! But what would the smile be more for? We won 3-0 or how on earth did we win that? Jokes apart, irrespective of how Sri Lanka played, that is not India's problem. They went out there with a mission and have executed that. Maybe not to total perfection but the scorecard is what most see. Barring Khaleel Ahmed, who nearly undid all the hard work of the spinners in that excruciating 18th over, which had a plethora of wides, everyone bowled well, with Washington Sundar being the pick. Should be the Player Of The Match as well. Please stay tuned for the presentation...

In spite of all these sayings, India never looked like winning this so-called contest. Sri Lanka were well placed at 110/1 and with 28 needed from 29 balls with 9 wickets in hand, one just could not foresee a Super Over coming from that stage. The hard work put by the top 3 - Nissanka, Kusal Mendis and Kusal Perera - went down the drain, as they actually batted sensibly on a pitch difficult to bat on. There was grip, there was turn, but they had done all the hard work by negating Bishnoi and Sundar for a major portion of the innings. However, perhaps, a sense of complacency kicked in, when they saw the likes of Riyan Parag, Rinku Singh and Suryakumar Yadav bowling. The last two had stunning figures - 2-0-8-4 - but by no means were they unplayable. However, first, the Lankans were undone by complacency and then, maybe, the inability to win matches consistently of late instilled doubts of self belief in the hosts.

The saying goes in cricket - 'Never stop believing till the last ball is bowled.' Going back to that famous Test match between Australia and India in Mumbai in 2003, where the Aussies, chasing 106 in the final innings, crumbled to be bowled out for 93. The then captain, Ricky Ponting, mentioned post the match that once Oz saw Michael Clarke taking a 6-fer, they knew they would be in trouble. Something what India would also have thought when they saw Theekshana and Hasaranga bowl. The spinners took 6 wickets in the Indian innings and the likes of Bishnoi and Sundar would have believed that 140 was defendable on this surface. But minimum 140.

A disappointing game of cricket, even though it went into a Super Over. Sri Lanka turned up better with the ball in this match but one does feel that the Indians did not quite do justice to their potential. In their quest of playing attacking cricket, they just threw their wickets away. In fact, the lower order batted sensibly and once again proved why batting all the overs in white-ball cricket. Excellent partnership between Shubman Gill and Riyan Parag but don't forget the contribution of Washington Sundar who was instrumental in taking India what then became a match-saving total, shall we say.

Can't really put a finger on where the game turned. Flashback to that game in 2009, where Sri Lanka and India had added 825 runs in an ODI. Sri Lanka were well on course there, needing 35 from 30 balls but Zaheer Khan swung the game India's way. Didn't quite know what hit the Lankans that day, but still, credit can be given to Zaheer for his exceptional reverse swing bowling. But what about this game? With due respect to the Indians, don't think that they too believed that the game was still on, else, why would a Suryakumar Yadav or Rinku Singh be bowling?

Wow. Stunned silence in Pallekele. I remember a game in the late 90s when India had toured Sri Lanka and in that game, India fell short by 3 runs, despite having Mohd. Azharuddin in the middle. At that time, Sanath Jayasuriya was dancing in the isles along with the crowd and India were wondering - where did we lose this game? Tonight after roughly 25-odd years, the medicine has been given to the home side and it is Jayasuriya who is pondering the same thing.

FOUR! A misfield and it races away! That sums it up for Sri Lanka! India complete the clean sweep. Maheesh Theekshana hurls the carrom ball, full but the line is down leg. Suryakumar Yadav gets inside the line and sweeps it along the ground. Hits it straight to Asitha Fernando at short fine leg where he sits on one knee to make the stop but lets it go through his legs for a boundary.

We are back for India's response! They need 3 to win. Shubman Gill and Suryakumar Yadav are out in the middle for India. And it will be Maheesh Theekshana to bowl for Sri Lanka.

... RUN CHASE ...

It all went from bad to worse for Sri Lanka. First, India they managed to snatch the game from the jaws of a probable defeat and now, they have cleaned Sri Lanka up for just a couple of runs in the super over! Pin drop silence at Pallekele. Sanath Jayasuriya looks absolutely distraught and rightly so! On the other hand, the Indian camp is all smiles and why not?

OUT! Taken in the deep again and that's it for Sri Lanka! This was fuller by Washington Sundar, at the stumps, Pathum Nissanka goes deep in the crease and goes for the slog sweep. There to be put away but Nissanka gets this one off the inside half of the bat and it goes only as far as deep mid-wicket where Rinku Singh takes a reverse cup catch in front of his face. The Sri Lankan fans are shell-shocked. They cannot believe what has unfolded over the last 15 minutes or so. India need 3 runs to complete the clean sweep.