🏏Sri Lanka vs India-T20I Series: M3 SCA Stadium, Rajkot 07/01/2023🏏 - Page 2

India and Sri Lanka have provided undeniable entertainment in the first two T20Is of the series thus far. The third and series-deciding T20I, which will be held at the Saurashtra Cricket Association Stadium in Rajkot today promises more thrilling fare.😃

The second T20I at Pune provided plenty of fireworks. Dasun Shanaka belted an unbeaten 22-ball 56 to take Sri Lanka to a winning total. India’s Suryakumar Yadav and Axar Patel replied in kind, but it was not enough to prevent a 16-run Sri Lankan win.The series opener at Mumbai was equally exciting, as India pulled off a last-ball victory.

India will have to prove their mettle.

The home side hopes to fix a couple of faults. India has not had the best starts when batting, sliding to 46 for three and 57 for five in the first two matches. In Mumbai, Hardik Pandya, Deepak Hooda and Axar Patel did the repair job. At the same time, it was left to Suryakumar, Axar and Shivam Mavi to keep India in the hunt on Thursday.

While these rescue acts augur well for India’s batting depth, it cannot become a regular occurrence.

Left-arm seamer Arshdeep Singh would like to dismiss Thursday’s horror show as an aberration. Arshdeep inexplicably bowled five no-balls in his two overs, which completely shifted the momentum Sri Lanka’s way. The 23-year-old will have to watch his step today, especially since he dons the crucial role of death-over specialist.

It remains to be seen whether the SCA Stadium pitch will aid free-flowing shot-making. Batting did not come easy in the previous T20I held at this venue, in June last year. On a pitch with uneven bounce, South Africa were bundled out for 87 chasing India’s 169 for six.

f the track offers spin, India has two quality tweakers in Axar and Yuzvendra Chahal who can do damage.

For India head coach Rahul Dravid, it is Axar’s evolution as a quality batter that is most pleasing. “Axar’s batting is coming on in leaps and bounds. We always knew his quality as a bowler; it was about developing his batting. He has been working hard on it. He has been with the team for more than a year now, and his batting is an area we had identified,” Dravid said.

IND vs SL head-to-head stats

• Matches played: 28
• India won: 17
• Sri Lanka won: 9
• No result: 1
• Last result: Sri Lanka won by 16 runs
• Last five results: IND won - 3; SL won - 2

Originally posted by: Savera84

Good decision 👍🏼

Better safe than sorry. The numbers are on the rise every where.

Cheers..

Yes its scary, hope we dont get another lockdown, not gud for the economy.

Rahul Tripathi, on his debut

“It was a very special moment for me, representing your country is the ultimate goal for any cricketer and I was obviously very happy (on my debut). Wanted to contribute more, but nevertheless, it was a great moment. I just play according to the moment and according to what the bowler bowls, I don’t do it intentionally, it just happens (on looking fidgety). It’s a good challenge to play a series decider, the plan is to go out, execute our best skills and win the game”.

Teams:

Sri Lanka (Playing XI): Pathum Nissanka, Kusal Mendis(w), Avishka Fernando, Dhananjaya de Silva, Charith Asalanka, Dasun Shanaka(c), Wanindu Hasaranga, Chamika Karunaratne, Maheesh Theekshana, Kasun Rajitha, Dilshan Madushanka

India (Playing XI): Ishan Kishan(w), Shubman Gill, Suryakumar Yadav, Rahul Tripathi, Hardik Pandya(c), Deepak Hooda, Axar Patel, Shivam Mavi, Umran Malik, Arshdeep Singh, Yuzvendra Chahal

India have won the toss and have opted to bat

IND: 7-1 after 1 overs

2.2 Madushanka to Tripathi, FOUR, to deep mid-wicket

Thanks for the tag 🤗