A solid 97-run opening partnership between Shikhar Dhawan and KL Rahul, a blistering finish from Manish Pandey and Shardul Thakur and an intimidating performance from the pacers helped India pull off a 78-run victory over Sri Lanka in the third T20I in Pune on Friday. Virat Kohli’s men thus won the series 2-0 after the first match was abandoned because of rain.
Put into bat, the hosts managed 201 for six, largely due to Dhawan (52 off 36 balls) and Rahul (54 off 36 balls). Shardul (21 not out off 8 balls) then used his long handle to good effect and Manish (31 off 18 balls) hardly showed rustiness as the pair added 37 runs in the final 2.2 overs to take the score past the 200-run mark.
The home bowlers then scythed through Sri Lanka’s top order, removing four batsmen inside the Powerplay, allowing no more than 35 runs during the field restrictions, to derail their daunting chase. They limped to 123 before being dismissed in 15.5 overs.
The performance, coming before the three-match ODI series against Australia, left captain Kohli visibly happy.
KL Rahul plays a shot on Friday (PTI)
“We have started on the right track, chasing (in) one game and setting (target) in one game. Two very clinical performances, so I am very happy. Just the confidence of getting that 200 mark every now and then will put us in good stead,” the skipper said at the post-match presentation.
He had words of praise for Man of the Match Shardul (2/19) and Manish Pandey, who has been benched quite often. Man of the Series Navdeep Saini (3/28) also put in a good showing.
“That middle collapse was challenging and what Manish and Shardul did was very good. We require more of this in the coming games as well, to see who are the guys putting their hands up when the senior guys don’t get runs.
“Batting first and setting totals... today I thought of 180 and we got 200. In Mumbai, (vs West Indies) we thought of 200 and got 230. We just want to continue that, we don’t want to be a team that is tentative batting first, and we want to show the same attitude which we bring in chases while batting first as well,” Kohli remarked.
He is happy that Dhawan is back in form with a half-century but doesn’t “endorse” the idea of pitting a senior player against a younger Rahul as possible partner for Rohit Sharma in the upcoming ODI series.
“All three openers are pretty strong players, and it’s great to have players playing well in the team. It gives you options. But I think people need to stop pitting players against each other. It’s all about a team game. I don’t endorse this idea of pitting people in the team against each other,” Kohli said.
