Tuesday, July 30, at Pallekele International Cricket Stadium in Pallekel, turned out to be a low-scoring thriller as SL vs IND played the last match of their three-match series. By winning the decisive match in the Super Over, the visitors took a 3-0 lead in the series.

Charith Asalanka had won the toss and chosen to bowl first on a dry surface earlier in the day. An hour passed before the action began. Axar Patel, Arshdeep Singh, Rishabh Pant, and Hardik Pandya were rested for the match by India, while Chamindu Wickramasinghe, the winner of the Emerging Player award in the just ended Lanka Premier League, made his debut for Sri Lanka.

India loses four powerplay games.

With three wickets in the first four overs, Sri Lanka got off to a quicker start. The powerful duo of Shubman Gill and Suryakumar Yadav was expected by Indian supporters to save them from a dire scenario, but Yadav gave away his wicket in the final over of the powerplay. After the first six overs, India was down to 30/4.

Riyan Parag and Shubman Gill lead India’s ship steadily

India needed a partnership badly after dismissing Shivam Dube for 13. In nine overs, the tourists had lost half their side for 48 runs. Together, Gill and Riyan Parag played some forceful strokes to provide the Indian supporters with something to cheer about. They added 54 runs off 40 balls on a pitch that was turning over massive amounts of bounce.

For the first time in the game, India was gaining momentum when Parag smashed two sixes against Wanindu Hasaranga in the 14th over. However, Hasaranga made a remarkable comeback, as the two batters fell in the 16th over. Since Gill was positioning himself for a big finish, his wicket was crucial for Sri Lanka. But in the end, he left for a 37-ball 39.

At the end, India concluded with 137/9 in their 20 overs thanks to a brilliant hand from Washington Sundar, who scored 25 off 18 balls. The best bowler from Sri Lanka was Maheesh Theekshana, who finished with statistics of 3/28 in four overs. To prevent a T20I series sweep, Sri Lanka would have beent on themselves to chase down the 138-run target.

India wins the Super Over, and Sri Lanka collapses once again

Pathum Nissanka and Kusal Mendis combined 58 runs off 53 balls to give Sri Lanka a calm start. In the ninth over, the former was removed for a 27-ball 26. Together with his namesake, Kusal Perera batted coolly to score 52 runs off of 39 balls.

At 110/1, Sri Lanka was in complete control of the match, requiring just 28 runs to win off 29 balls. But, they let India get a sniff when they lost three wickets in nine balls.

The tourists exerted tremendous pressure on Suryakumar Yadav, who was depending mostly on his spinners to do much of the damage. To assist India escape punishment, Rinku Singh and Suryakumar bowled the final two overs, giving up just eight runs and taking four wickets. The match meandered down to the Super Over, with Sri Lanka finishing on 137/8 in their 20 overs.

Also Read: Suryakumar Yadav discloses his message to team before Pallekele heist: ‘If we put our heart into it for one, one-and-a-half hours, we can pull it off

After batting first, Sri Lanka was only able to get a few runs before Washington Sundar ended the innings by dismissing Kusal Perera and Pathum Nissanka in back-to-back deliveries. India won after Suryakumar swept Maheesh Theekshana’s opening ball for a boundary.

Here are the best memes from SL vs IND 3rd T20I game:

Cry more @daniel86cricket #SLvIND pic.twitter.com/9C7cXIwIia

— rae (@ChillamChilli) July 30, 2024

#SLvIND
India won 🇮🇳🇮🇳 pic.twitter.com/xDQgJgkkIl

— Aman Maurya (@amanmaurya26) July 30, 2024

Let’s Laugh at Srilanka 🤣🤣#SLvIND pic.twitter.com/wsYIO4tSq6

— Trey (@BCCITrey) July 30, 2024

KING SURYAKUMAR YADAV ❤#SLvIND pic.twitter.com/WOSuzT60Cg

— Yuvraj Srivastava (@The_yuvraj012) July 30, 2024

GG telling everyone in the team that they all are bowler as well.

— Kric_26 (@Kric262) July 30, 2024

Gautam Gambhir as coach #SLvIND pic.twitter.com/ajIcndd8oC

— Sunil the Cricketer (@1sInto2s) July 30, 2024

#SLvIND
Rule 1 under Gambhir era 💀
Everyone has to bat
Everyone has to ball #SLvIND pic.twitter.com/qUC4r4mNoV

— SHEKAR REDDY BRS (@AShekarReddyy) July 30, 2024

#SLvIND pic.twitter.com/lQo3J3k8DC

— Aryan don (@aryan68753) July 30, 2024

Team India to Sri Lanka #SLvIND pic.twitter.com/2waQXEIPZy

— Vivek Gautam (@Imvivek04) July 30, 2024

SKY gets it done in one in the Super Over! 🫡

A clean sweep in the T20Is.

Next odi …….#AavaDe I

— Surekha (@SK29_M) July 30, 2024

GG Era 💀🫵🏻#SLvIND pic.twitter.com/HBjsOXqOOf

— ` (@achha_ladka_) July 30, 2024

Gali se utha ke batsman bowler dono bana dunga. Gautam Gambhir 🥵

— Alok Patel (@Alok_952) July 30, 2024