Sri Lanka national cricket team led by Charith Asalanka took on the Indian national cricket team led by Suryakumar Yadav in the third and final T20I of India’s tour of Sri Lanka 2024 on Tuesday, July 30 at the Pallekele International Cricket Stadium.
Charith Asalanka’s side came into the third T20I after losing the first two matches, which resulted in a series defeat for them. It was a poor performance by the team in both the bowling and batting departments that led to the hosts facing heavy defeats against the Men In Blue.
In the first match, the bowlers looked disoriented as the Indian batsmen launched an attack in the first half of the innings. Though they managed a minor comeback in the second half, it was not as effective as India still posted 213/7 on the board.
In pursuit of the target, the opening pair of Kusal Mendis and Pathum Nissanka came out all guns blazing and set the stage for the run chase. However, a shocking batting collapse meant that they were restricted to 170 runs in 19.2 overs and lost by 43 runs.
The story was more or less the same for the Lankan Lions in the second T20I as after a good start with the bat, they faced a collapse and posted just 161/9 on the board, which looked like a below-par score.
And when India were given a revised target of 78 runs due to rain interruption, the Sri Lankan bowlers did not bowl well and were allowed to chase down the score with 9 balls to spare and 7 wickets in hand.
I am really disappointed with our batting line-up, the middle order and the lower middle order – Charith Asalanka
Talking about the third T20I, Sri Lanka won the toss and elected to bowl first in the match. All the bowlers did a great job in the first innings and restricted the mighty Indian team to 137/9. Chasing the target, just like in the first two matches, the top order went on a rampage and it looked like Sri Lanka Lions would win easily. However, they lost 7 wickets for 29 runs in the last 5 overs and could not bat well against Suryakumar Yadav and Rinku Singh, resulting in the match going into the Super Over.
In the Super Over, they scored just 2 runs as Nissanka and Perera were out in three balls. And when it was their turn to bowl, they allowed the run chase to be completed on the first ball.
At the post-match presentation ceremony, Charith Asalanka said that he was very disappointed with the batting performance of the Lanka Lions and criticised the shot selection of the batsmen. Charith Asalanka said:
“I am really disappointed with our batting line-up, both in the middle order and lower middle order. The reason was poor shot selection.”
Charith Asalanka spoke about the change in the batting order and revealed that they promoted Wanindu Hasaranga to hit some boundaries, something he failed to do. Charith Asalanka added that they need to deliver better batting performances in the ODI series against India. Charith Asalanka explained:
“The bowlers were bowling, that’s why Hasaranga came up the order. He had the licence to hit one or two boundaries, that didn’t happen. Wrong shot selection on this pitch. Definitely (it was possible), we need to do more as professional cricketers. I want to see good batting performances in the ODIs. Our top three and four have done well and that’s the only positive for us.”
Meanwhile, Sri Lanka National Cricket Team and Indian National Cricket Team will meet again in action in the three-match ODI series. The matches are scheduled for August 2, 4 and 7 in Colombo.