3rd T20I: India wins thriller to complete whitewash

Mumbai: Sri Lanka finally gave some competition to Indian team in the three-match Twenty20 International (T20I) series, though, could not pull out the cliffhanger and lost by 5 wickets at the Wankhede Stadium here on Sunday.

Despite being restricted to a mediocre total of 135/7, Sri Lankan bowlers did really well to put up a fight. They dismissed Lokesh Rahul (4 off 9) earlier in the inning to put the hosts under pressure early in the inning.

Stand-in skipper Rohit Sharma and Shreyas Iyer added 22 runs for the second wicket before the former departed. Rohit scored 27 runs off 20 balls with 4 fours and a six. Iyer tried his best to stay at the crease for as long as possible but could only take India home as he got out after scoring 30 runs off 32 balls with 1 four and a six.

Manish Pandey played the role of a leader for some part of the inning but he also failed to finish it for India. He, however, played an important knock of 32 runs off 29 balls with 4 fours.

Hardik Pandya failed to explode once again getting back to the pavilion at the individual score of 4 runs off 4 balls. Dinesh Karthik and MS Dhoni, however, kept their nerves and lifted India to 3-0 series win.

Dhoni remained unbeaten at 16 off 10 balls with 2 fours while Karthik, who smashed a pressure releasing six on the last ball of the 19^th over, was not out at 18 off 12 balls.

Dushmantha Chameera and Dasun Shanaka were the only wicket takers for Sri Lanka as they picked up two wickets each.

Also Read: IND vs SL 3rd T20I: Struggling Sri Lanka manages to post 135/7

Earlier, owing to the last over blitz by Dasun Shanaka, Sri Lanka managed to post 135/7 against India in the third and final T20I.

Player of the match: Jaydev Unadkat

Player of the series: Jaydev Unadkat

The young Indian bowlers never let the Lankan batting kick off as Nirosham Dickwella (1 off 6), Upul Tharanga (11 off 11) and Kusal Perera could not contribute much and were back to the dugout when their team was at 18/3.

Sadeera Samarawickrama and Asela Gunaratne tried to strengthen the inning but could not do much as the former departed at the individual score of 21 runs off 17 balls with 3 fours. Gunaratne played sensibly and tried to stay at the crease as long as possible. But he was dismissed at 36 off 37 balls with three boundaries.

Danushka Gunathilaka (3 off 8) and skipper Thisara Perera (11 off 6) were also amongst the non-contributors as they had returned to the pavilion when Lanka was at 85/6.

Dadun Shanaka, however, stayed at the crease and showed some fireworks during the last over of the inning to strengthen his team. He remained unbeaten at 29 runs off 24 balls with 2 sixes. Akila Dananjaya also added 11 runs off 7 balls with two boundaries.

Jaydev Unadkat was the pick of the bowlers as he bagged 2 wickets for only 15 runs in his four overs. Hardik Pandya also picked up two wickets for 25 runs in his spell. Washington Sundar, Mohammed Siraj and Kuldeep Yadav also managed to get a wicket each.

India had already secured the series victory by winning the first two matches. This win completed the clean sweep.