India slip before completing sweep
MUMBAI:It was a walk down memory lane for fans at Wankhede Stadium on Sunday as MS Dhoni (16*) hit the winning runs against Sri Lanka to wrap up the T20I series 3-0, capping off what has been an excellent year for India.
Chasing a modest 136 in the final T20I in Mumbai, India’s middle-order was finally put to some test but the hosts reached the target with five wickets in hand to end their extended home season on a high. India lost their openers early — Rohit Sharma for 27 and KL Rahul for 4 — but Shreyas Iyer (30) and Manish Pandey (32) brought them back on track with a 42-run third wicket stand.
Rohit smacked four boundaries and a six in his 27 off 20 balls, but not before emerging on top in an interesting battle with Akila Dananjaya. The Sri Lanka spinner had begun proceedings with a googly that squared up Rohit completely, passing over top of the wickets after missing his bat and pad. Rohit put all doubts to rest when he launched into Dananjaya , clobbering him for a six and a four to collect 13 runs from that over. Rohit failed to get in the right position against a short ball which he flicked towards deep square-leg, off Dasun Shanaka in the sixth over.
Rahul, coming off scores of 89 and 61, fell cheaply after being adjudged leg-before off Dushmantha Chameera — who bowled in 140 kph range — despite taking a review on a delivery that hit him high on the pads. The decision stayed with the umpire after replays showed it was hitting top of leg-stump.
Iyer’s promotion worked well for India with the local boy scoring a 32-ball 30. However, Iyer was run out in the 14th over. Hardik Pandya (4) fell quickly, shortly followed by Manish Pandey who was dismissed by Shanaka.
The sight of Dhoni striding out sparked a raucous cheer in the stands.
He teamed up with Dinesh Karthik (18*) to take India past the finish line, hitting a boundary to get the winning runs with four balls to spare.