That’s another sweep

Shreyas Iyer scores unbeaten 73 to power India to a six-wkt victory over SL in third T20I; Rohit & Co rout visitors 3-0 on back of series wins over Windies

Shreyas Iyer hit an unbeaten half-century as India defeated Sri Lanka by six wickets in the third T20I to make a 3-0 clean sweep in the three-match series here on Saturday.

Chasing 147, India were reeling at 89-3 inside 11 overs when Shreyas came up with an unbeaten 73 from 45 balls to chase down the target with 19 balls to spare.

Ravindra Jadeja once again played a perfect support with 22 not out from 15 balls as the duo stitched together an unbroken stand of 45 runs to give India a 3-0 sweep, chasing down the target in 16.5 overs.

Avesh makes amends

Earlier, Avesh Khan made amends for a forgettable debut as his scorching opening spell alongside Mohammed Siraj helped India restrict Sri Lanka to 146 for five.

For India skipper Rohit Sharma, who became the most capped T20I player in world cricket with his 125th appearance in the national jersey, it was a delight to see the reserves coming out and performing on a track that had enough pace and bounce to help the speed merchants.

Even the two wrist spinners, Ravi Bishnoi (4-0-32-1) and Kuldeep Yadav (4-0-25-0), did well enough to bottle up the islanders on a chilly night.

Strange enough, for two years Bishnoi has been only bowling googlies but with so much accuracy, that the batters in IPL and now in international cricket are yet to get a measure of him.
Sri Lanka captain Dasun Shanaka was once again the saviour with a 74 not out off 38 balls that took his team close to 150-run mark. Shanaka hit nine fours and two sixes.

But it was Avesh (4-1-23-2) and Siraj (4-0-22-1), who just dismantled the Lankan top-order with pace and bounce, as they were reduced to 11 for 3 in the fourth over and there was no coming back from there.

Siraj started it by hurrying Danushka Gunathilaka (0) with a short ball which he tried to pull but only managed to drag back onto the stumps.

Avesh, who went for 40 odd runs on debut on a Eden Gardens belter, bowled much fuller from his usual back-of-length stuff and sent back Pathum Nissanka (1) and Charith Asalanka (4), both deliveries hitting the bat faster than they could have comprehended.

The best part about India’s performance was that vice-captain Jasprit Bumrah, veteran Bhuvneshwar Kumar and first choice wrist spinner Yuzvendra Chahal were given a much- needed break.

Rohit spoilt for choice

The skipper is spoilt for choice as he and coach Rahul Dravid are slowly building a set-up where they have multiple options for each and every position in both departments.

The only missing link in the T20 squad is the absence of a good off-spinner as the Indian team management is unlikely to go back to Ravichandran Ashwin for the T20 World Cup in Australia.

Otherwise, the team looks in good health. Also consider the fact that people who are not playing this series include Virat Kohli, Rishabh Pant and KL Rahul.

There is Suryakumar Yadav, Deepak Chahar and now Ishan Kishan getting injured at some point and Shardul Thakur being rested. Yet a Test specialist like Siraj and the fiery Avesh or the committed Harshal Patel (4-0-29-1) are all making their cases for selection going into the big-ticket event eight months from now.

Brief scores
SL 146-5 in 20 overs (D Shanaka 74*, D Chandimal 22; A Khan 2-23) lost to India 148-4 in 16.5 overs (S Iyer 73*, R Jadeja  22*; L Kumara 2-39) by six wickets 

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