India‘s match against Sri Lanka in the third Twenty20 International (T20I) at Visakhapatnam will serve as a series-decider. India, on a green surface, were comprehensive outplayed in the first game at Pune, but they hit back hard in the second match at Ranchi to crush Sri Lanka by 69 runs. Going by the looks of the proceedings at Ranchi, it could be said that India were merely caught unawares by the young Lankans side in the first game, but are well equipped to outdo them in all departments when at full flow, especially on spin-friendly surfaces. It will be safe to say that India will enter the decider as favourites, even if only marginally. Full Cricket Scorecard: India vs Sri Lanka 2015-16, 1st T20I at Visakhapatnam
Sri Lanka’s seam attack, suddenly deprived of a green wicket, looked impotent. Kasun Rajitha, who had the dream debut in the first match, was taken to the shredders conceding 45 runs in four overs. Thisara Perera may have taken a hat-trick, but that could be more attributed to fortune than good bowling. Only Dushmantha Chameera’s effort was respectable.
For India, Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan forged a great opening partnership and Dhawan scored a 50 at a strike-rate of 200! Rohit was far more calculated in his approach for his score of 43. Rahane managed to score 25 off 21 balls but would like to make a stronger statement in the final game.
Having a great foundation, it was required off the middle order to hit out, and that is exactly what they did. Hardik Pandya was particularly proficient in that area taking full account of some very average bowling. His 12-ball 27 featured two clean hits for six and a four. Suresh Raina managed to score 30 off 19 in, approximately, the same period.
Almost every Indian batsman came good and the bowlers did not let down either. Ravichandran Ashwin led the effort with three wickets from his four overs at expense of mere 14 runs. Ashish Nehra, Jasprit Bumrah and Ravindra Jadeja picked two wickets each as the Sri Lanka batting fell apart.
Sri Lanka’s top order was an utter travesty. The return of Tillakaratne Dilshan was most unimpressive as he got out for a golden duck. Their top order batsmen failed to get past even five runs individually. In the middle order there was some resistance from Dinesh Chandimal, Chamara Kapugedra, Milinda Siriwardana and Dasun Shanaka, although it had little consequence on the outcome of the match.
Indian bowlers kept making breakthroughs at regular intervals and not a single partnership was allowed a free run. Meanwhile, the Indian batsmen were fluent with their partnerships and run-scoring.
Sri Lanka, all of a sudden, are being exposed as the inexperienced side they are. The aura they developed after the first game has quickly faded. At the very least, they will be keen to put up a far greater fight in the deciding game at Visakhapatnam.
India don’t have to do a lot different than from what they did in the second match. In fact, there seemed absolutely no area where India was lacking. Surely, the first game was proof that India has some problems in seaming conditions, but it is common knowledge that in the challenges that lie in close proximity, India can afford to not worry about that.
(Rishad D’Souza, a reporter with CricketCountry, gave up hopes of playing Test cricket after a poor gully-cricket career. He now reports on the sport. You can follow @RDcric on Twitter)
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