Hasaranga stars as Sri Lanka clinch series 2-1

Spinner Wanindu Hasaranga took four wickets on his 24th birthday to help Sri Lanka thrash India by seven wickets yesterday and claim the three-match Twenty20 series 2-1.Hasaranga returned career-best T20 figures of 4-9 with his leg-spin as India finished on a paltry 81-8, a total Sri Lanka overhauled in 14.3 overs in Colombo. Dhananjaya de Silva, unbeaten on 23, and Hasaranga, 14 not out, steered the team home after Indian leg-spinner Rahul Chahar sent back Sri Lanka’s top three including wicketkeeper-batsman Minod Bhanuka for 18.Hasaranga was the star of the day after his twin strikes, including Sanju Samson for nought in the fifth over of India’s innings, put Sri Lanka in charge.Skipper Shikhar Dhawan was out for nought in the first over off pace bowler Dushmantha Chameetra after India elected to bat first. Number seven Kuldeep Yadav made an unbeaten 23 to take India past their lowest ever T20 score of 74 against Australia in 2008. The total was India’s lowest against the island nation after they were bowled out for 101 in 2016.Sri Lanka captain Dasun Shanaka took two wickets including a sharp caught and bowled to send back Nitish Rana for six. Sri Lanka on Wednesday bounced back from an opening loss to win the second match, delayed by one day due after India’s Krunal Pandya tested positive for coronavirus putting him in isolation along with eight close contacts.India won the three-match 50-overs series 2-1 after its start was pushed back by five days due to a Covid-19 outbreak in the Sri Lankan camp.“It was a difficult situation for us but as a team, we decided we will stay and play the series. Lots of learnings for me as captain. Last game was a close one, today it was an off day for the batting unit but the boys will learn from it. We lost too many wickets today and the Sri Lanka bowlers bowled well. When you lose early wickets and you don’t have a long batting, you are under pressure. Both teams played in great spirit and it’s a beautiful feeling. The Sri Lanka captain and players wanted to know about my process, so I told them and I hope they enjoyed listening to it,” Dhawan said.BRIEF SCORESSri Lanka 82 for 3 (de Silva 23*, R Chahar 3-15) beat India 81 for 8 (Yadav 23*, Hasaranga 4-9, Shanaka 2-20) by seven wickets