The new era under Suryakumar Yadav and Gautam Gambhir got underway with a 3-0 T20I series win on Tuesday at the Pallekele International Stadium after India survived a Super Over thriller in the third and final match of the contest. Like in the opening two matches, Sri Lanka made a mess in the death overs, despite a 12-ball 18th over from Khaleel Ahmed. The batters struggled to score just nine runs in the last two overs, where part-timers Rinku Singh and Suryakumar bowled, before a brilliant over from Washington Sundar in the tie-breaker ensured a clean sweep for India over Sri Lanka.
However, the Super Over could have been avoided had it not been for a blunder from Suryakumar. Defending just six runs i
n the final over, the captain picked two wickets in consecutive balls in the opening three deliveries, before Asitha Fernando denied him a perfect hat-trick on the fourth ball.
With five left to chase in the final two deliveries, Sri Lanka batter Chamindu Wickramasinghe slapped the outside-off delivery
off his backfoot towards long-off and pushed hard for two runs. Riyan Parag easily collected the ball and hurled it back to the captain at the non-striker’s end. Suryakumar grabbed it, but instead of dislodging the bails with Fernando well far away from the crease, he threw
it back to wicketkeeper Sanju Samson.
In the final ball, Wickramasinghe smacked Suryakumar’s fuller delivery towards long-on and pushed for two runs yet again. Shubman Gill, stationed at the boundary, easily collected the ball and hurled it back to the captain at the non-striker’s end. It was a decent throw from the fielder and had Suryakumar grabbed it and broken the stumps, Asitha Fernando, the other Sri Lanka batter, would have been dismissed. But he couldn’t gather it cleanly as Fernando made the crease and thus forced a Super Over.
In the tie-breaker, Sundar picked up two wickets in just three balls, setting India a target of just three runs, before Suryakumar wrapped up the match in the opening delivery against Theekshana as he smashed a boundary towards fine leg.
