🏏India tour of Sri Lanka: 3rd T20I at Pallekele @ 7PM IST🏏

🏏India tour of Sri Lanka: 3rd T20I at Pallekele International Cricket Stadium, Pallekele on 30/07/2024 @ 7PM IST🏏

Sri Lanka's middle-order worries

In the first T20I, Sri Lanka lost nine wickets for 30 runs. In the second, they lost seven for 32. This has been the theme for the hosts so far in Charith Asalanka's first series as Sri Lanka's full-time T20I captain. Asalanka himself managed just scores of 0 and 14 in the two games.

The top three have fired in both matches, with Sri Lanka getting to scores of 140 and 80 at the fall of the second wicket. Pathum Nissanka is the leading run-scorer in the series. Kusal Perera has a half-century, while Kusal Mendis made 45 in the first match. But beyond them, it has been a bleak showing, with Kamindu Mendis' 26 in the second T20I the highest score from the middle and lower orders.

Sri Lanka will need to find a way out of their middle-order muddle and deliver on the platform being set by their top order.

India would want some of their batters like Sanju Samson, Rinku Singh and Riyan Parag to get some more time in the middle, and having sealed the series with comprehensive performances, don't have too much else they need to address.

Thanks for the tag. 💙

My inlaws are not well. So a bit busy with them....

I think in this one others should get a chance

In the spotlight - Pathum Nissanka and Rishabh Pant

Pathum Nissanka is the only batter to have gone past 100 runs in the series, and is striking at 154.16. He has been in sensational form in 2024, having scored 753 runs at a strike rate of 154.93 - well above his career strike rate of 123.90. He shone in the Lanka Premier League as well, and was the highest-scoring opener in the competition. With their wobbly middle order, the onus is on him now more than ever to keep producing big performances with the bat.

After a life-threatening accident, Rishabh Pant made his return to competitive cricket in IPL 2024, and following a successful campaign, he was picked for the 2024 T20 World Cup. He made 42 off 31 in a low-scoring win over Pakistan, but failed to convert his starts after that, even as India went on to lift the title. In the first game of this series, Pant made 49 off 33, but he had a scratchy start and was dropped on 11. With Sanju Samson behind him in the pecking order, there is pressure on Pant to prove his credentials in the shortest format for India.

The drizzle that shortened Sunday's game lingered into the new week, wrapping the hills of Kandy in a soft mist. Team India, embracing the monsoon's lethargy, cancelled their Monday practice session. For a brief while, they showed the resolve to train, but as the day unfolded in the lush, serene hills, plans were reconsidered and ultimately abandoned. The indecisiveness is probably understandable. A lazy day out was much due for a team that had put up the entertainment act two days in a row over the weekend.

For Sri Lanka, the respite was more of a necessity, a brief escape from the sting of two defeats within 30 hours. As they resume their attempted T20 revival at the same venue on Tuesday, the challenge will be to rally as a unit and secure a win. While the match might be inconsequential to the series outcome, it holds immense significance for a team struggling at the back of recent failures, and more significantly, the manner of those losses.

Despite the eventual margin between the two teams, the contests have not been entirely one-sided. There were instances where both sides were evenly matched, and at times, Sri Lanka even held the upper hand. Yet, they've squandered these opportunities, primarily due to middle-order collapses. Sri Lanka's batting coach emphasized the need for solutions and perhaps some 'tough decisions'. This game presents a low-stakes opportunity to experiment with new combinations.

India, too, might see merit in tinkering with their playing XI. However, with the dawn of the Suryakumar Yadav-Gautam Gambhir era, the question arises: is the focus on immediate results or the long-term process? As the drizzle continues to paint the island in shades of green and grey, both teams face an interesting juncture - one seeking redemption and a new direction, while the other is just extending its merry run in a different island from the islands of Caribbean to Sri Lanka en route Zimbabwe.

Team News

India: There was no practise session for the team. Shubman Gill, who missed out the previous game due to a neck spasm should return. India could also be tempted to give chances to Khaleel Ahmed and Washington Sundar.

Tactics & Matchups: Pathum Nissanka may have dealt with Axar Patel slightly well in this series, but the left-arm spinner has usually managed to control the in-form Sri Lankan opener, conceding only 39 runs in 30 balls and dismissing him twice.

Probable XI: Shubman Gill, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Suryakumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant/Sanju Samson, Hardik Pandya, Rinku Singh, Riyan Parag, Washington Sundar, Ravi Bishnoi, Mohammed Siraj, Khaleel Ahmed

Sri Lanka: With issues in the middle order needing a fix, the hosts could be tempted to bring in Dinesh Chandimal in place of Dasun Shanaka. The other option they might be tempted to try out would be to bring in Avishka Fernando and push Kamindu Mendis slightly lower down.

Tactics & Matchups: Wanindu Hasaranga has dismissed Sanju Samson thrice in 11 balls, conceding only two runs against the batter who has struck at a rate of above 150 in T20s in 2024

Probable XI: Kusal Mendis, Pathum Nissanka, Kusal Perera, Dinesh Chandimal/Avishka Fernando, Charith Asalanka, Wanindu Hasaranga, Maheesh Theekshana, Ramesh Mendis/Dilshan Madhushanka, Matheesha Pathirana, Asitha Fernando

Did you know?

Since January 1, 2023, Sri Lanka have tried 11 batters in the position from 5-7. Only four of those - which includes Wanindu Hasaranga and Dasun Shanaka - have scored at a strike rate of higher than 150

Sri Lanka have lost six of the last eight T20Is they've played in Pallekele since 2019

What they said:

"I am really disappointed with the way we batted at the death and about our middle order and lower middle order including me. We must really improve in our batting. On this pitch, when the ball gets older, it gets really hard to bat. As professional cricketers, we have to do well. We were behind by 15-18 runs" - Charith Asalanka, Sri Lanka captain, following the team's loss in the second T20I

"We spoke about this before this tournament - what brand of cricket we want to play. Even if it's a shorter target or whatever target we are chasing, this is the template which we would like to go ahead with - Suryakumar Yadav, India captain, following the team's second consecutive dominant show with the bat

Pitch and conditions

After two matches on the same pitch, this game will be played on a fresh surface in Pallekele. In the first two matches, batting conditions were the best earlier on and got tougher as the match progressed, bringing spinners into play and encouraging changes of pace from the quicks. The new pitch is not expected to play too differently.

Stats and trivia

• Matheesha Pathirana has dismissed Suryakumar Yadav in all three T20 innings he has bowled to him. Sri Lanka could be encouraged to introduce Pathirana to the attack earlier than usual to try and target India's skipper.

• Unlike in ODIs, where Sri Lanka are Mohammed Siraj's favourite opposition, the fast bowler has struggled against them in T20Is. He averages 39 against them in the format, as opposed to 7.68 in ODIs, and has just three wickets in four matches. His lone wicket in this series was of Pathirana, and he would look to improve his numbers on Tuesday.

• Wanindu Hasaranga's 15 wickets against India are the most he has taken against any opposition. In this series, he has dismissed Yashasvi Jaiswal twice, and he would be a bowler the Indians will be wary of.