Twitter Reactions: Sensational Sri Lanka stun India to finally break series-losing streak

Sri Lanka have managed to win the three-match T20I series against India. It was a perfect day for the home side as their spinners led by Wanindu Hasaranga strangled the opposition batsmen. After restricting India to just 81 runs, Sri Lanka’s batsmen chased down the target comfortably on a slow turning pitch to seal their first T20I series since beating Pakistan 3-0 back in 2019.

Earlier, India skipper Shikhar Dhawan opted to bat first after winning the toss and that was the only thing which went the visitors’ way in the game. Dhawan himself bagged a duck getting out in the very first over to Dushmantha Chameera. The proceedings only got worse as the game went ahead and India’s all five batsmen were back in the hut.

After nine overs, they were struggling at 36/5 with Wanindu Hasaranga and other bowlers strangling the Indian batsmen. The long tail was in action very early in the innings and Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Kuldeep Yadav batted sensibly to make sure the tourists batted for 20 overs. But there was no momentum in the innings whatsoever as India hit only four fours.

Kuldeep was the top-scorer with an unbeaten 23 off 28 while Bhuvi scored 16 off 32 deliveries as India could only muster 81 runs in the innings which was their third lowest total in the shortest format. Hasaranga was the best bowler for the hosts as he returned with the magical figures of 4/9.

Slow but straightforward chase for Sri Lanka

The chase was always going to be straightforward for Sri Lanka but given their poor record in recent times, they were understandably slow at the start of the innings. India needed early wickets but they couldn’t do that even though runs were hard to come by. Rahul Chahar was the pick of the bowlers with his variations as he sent back three batsmen while conceding only 15 runs.

But the birthday boy Hasaranga and the calm head of Dhananajaya de Silva got together to once again take Sri Lanka home with utter ease. The latter was again the top scorer proving his excellent credentials to help the team from island nation snap their four-match losing streak in the format. Sri Lanka reached home with more than five overs to spare with seven wickets in hand and finally, after so many losses, they finally managed to win a series.

Here’s how Twitter reacted: