During the third T20I of Sri Lanka’s tour of India 2023 in Rajkot, India beat Sri Lanka by 91 runs to continue their unbeaten series streak against them in the shortest format at home. A clinical performance saw the hosts dominating across divisions after captain Hardik Pandya (4 & 2/30) won the toss and chose to bat.
Advertisement
Vice-captain Suryakumar Yadav set the tone for India’s fourth-biggest T20I victory (by runs) by scoring a match-winning 112* (51) including seven fours and nine sixes. Yadav, 32, brought up a magnificent third T20I century to win the Player of the Match for the 10th time in his 44-match career.
Chasing a mammoth 229-run target, Sri Lanka were bundled out for 137 in 16.4 overs as the lack of a much-needed game-changing knock hurt them badly in their first-ever match at the Saurashtra Cricket Association Stadium tonight.
India pacer Arshdeep Singh was the pick of their bowlers on the back of his figures of 2.4-0-20-3. In addition to Singh, Pandya, spinner Yuzvendra Chahal and fast bowler Umran Malik dismissed a couple of batters each.
India vs Sri Lanka Man of the Series
India all-rounder Axar Patel bagged the Player of the Series award for the second time in his career and merely months after his first such award. Patel, 28, pinned down the likes of Yadav, Sri Lanka captain Dasun Shanaka and Malik to win the award.
Third-highest run-scorer and fifth-highest wicket-taker in this three-match series, Patel scored 117 runs across three innings at a fantastic strike rate of 195. Furthermore, the southpaw’s three wickets came at an average of 24.66, an economy rate of 7.66 and a strike rate of 20.
“Feel happier when the team benefits from my batting. Didn’t do anything different for this series. Just that the captain gave me a lot of confidence in the dugout. He tells me to play freely and tells me that he is there to protect me,” Patel told Star Sports during the post-match presentation ceremony.
