MATCH STORY
Follow UsCricket is a funny game is a cliche that keeps defining itself continuously. The moment you feel you have seen everything, something new unravels that leaves you amazed and appalled in equal proportion.
The third T20I between India and Sri Lanka in Pallekele, a dead rubber, had the same effect on cricket fans—it left you in splits as much as in disbelief while making you wonder how the h*** that happened.
India had no business winning that game. Having restricted the visitors to 137/9, Sri Lanka batted cautiously. For all the lack of confidence in Sri Lanka’s batting, their long tail and the debacle in the previous two games, this game felt unlosable.
They needed only 30 off 30 balls with nine wickets in hand. India revived themselves from this exact same equation a month ago to clinch the T20 World Cup final, but let's be honest. The Men in Blue had a certain Jasprit Bumrah up their sleeves, and South Africa, although had a long tail, were four wickets down.
Here, Sri Lanka had two set batters, with Kusal Mendis and Kusal Perera having forged a 50-run stand.
Ravi Bishnoi came back in the attack for his last over and dismissed Mendis. Sri Lanka overcomplicated things, promoting Wanindu Hasaranga over their newly appointed skipper Charith Asalanka, presumably only to ensure a left-right hand batting pair in the middle. Washington Sundar nabbed both in the follow-up over conceding only two runs.
That is nine runs for three wickets in two overs. The asking rate had just hovered at seven but with Perera batting at a strike rate of 156, Sri Lanka were still expected to cross the line. Khaleel Ahmed eased the pressure further by conceding five wides in the 18th over.
12 balls, 9 runs, 6 wickets.
Funny things happen in this format on spin-friendly pitches.
Khaleel’s 12-run over probably reduced Surya’s confidence in his seamers. Mohammed Siraj had an over left and had conceded only 11 runs in his three overs. The other spin-bowling options were done. Hence, Surya found it better to take a chance with Rinku Singh’s part-time off-spin, who had never bowled in his 22 T20Is. In all T20s, he had only one wicket, taken back in 2014.
Believe it or not, he picked a wicket off his second ball, rushing the big fish, Perera, into a pull shot to take a return catch. It beamed a smile on Gautam Gambhir’s face, marking the beginning of Sri Lanka’s end. Ramesh Mendis tried to treat Rinku like a part-time spinner but only found Shubman Gill at deep mid-wicket.
6 runs, 6 balls, 4 wickets.
Rinku had done enough to give Surya confidence in his own bowling.
Like Rinku, Surya had also never bowled in his 70 T20Is before. In all T20s, he had four wickets, the last of which came in 2014.
Surya pitched the first ball short but turned it miles outside the off stump. That probably created doubt in the mind of the left-handed batter, Kamindu Mendis. Perturbed by the turn on offer, Mendis swept the second ball aerially only to find the fielder in the deep. Maheesh Theekshana gloved the next ball to Sanju Samson down the leg side in the most innocuous way possible.
From no bowling between them in more than 90 T20Is, Rinku Singh and Suryakumar Yadav had picked four wickets between them in within eight deliveries. Surya was on a hat-trick.
With every wicket, the camera panned to new Sri Lankan head coach Sanath Jayasuriya, who looked like he would pull the imaginary hair off his bald head.
Drama unfurled, and Chamindu Wickramasinghe, having bowled the most economical spell by a Sri Lankan pacer on T20I debut, trudged the hosts to level the score. However, being undone by two part-time off-spinners wasn't enough embarrassment for Sri Lanka.
They could manage a total of two runs batting first in the Super Over. Perara, having batted so well for his 46 earlier, was out twice in two balls, handing catching practice to the deep square-leg fielder on his first ball in the Super Over. Pathum Nissanka followed suit on the next ball, finding the deep mid-wicket fielder off the meat of his bat. The look he exchanged with the non-striker was a testament to Sri Lanka feeling as helpless and hopeless as a middle-class man paying taxes in India.
Defending only three, Asitha Fernando misfielded at fine-leg, allowing India to chase down the shortest Super Over target on the first ball itself.
wd, 1, W, W, 4
The Super Over phase of the game lasted only four legitimate deliveries. The only upside was that it finally ended a sequence of mortifying cricket from the hosts.
Since the retirement of their golden generation, India have handed Sri Lanka the short end of the stick plenty of times. But this series has unlocked an unprecedented level of humiliation, which must have been tough to digest for Jayasuriya, who used to bash Indian bowlers for fun during his playing days. Moreover, this defeat came a couple of days after their women’s team registered a historic Asia Cup title win beating their Indian counterparts in the final.
In the first T20I, Sri Lanka lost 21/7. In the second, it was 31/7. On Tuesday night (July 31), it was 27/7. Add the Super Over debacle and it is 31/9. To sum it up, Sri Lanka have lost 23 wickets for 83 runs, translating to a shocking figure of 3.6 runs per wicket.
It is amazing how India have defended the undefendable equation of 30 off 30 balls twice in nearly a month. But the deep waters the Sri Lankan batting find themselves in also leave you concerned.
Ultimately, the Lankans would hope they have touched rock bottom and the only way forward is up.
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