After a dominating performance in the second T20 International against Sri Lanka, the Men In Blue would be hoping to carry the momentum ahead in the third and final encounter at the Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium in Pune.
An inspiring performance from youngsters like Navdeep Saini and Shardul Thakur laid the foundation of India’s authoritative victory. Meanwhile, great batting performance from the top 4 made the run-chase look too easy.
The side led by Virat Kohli is just one win away from claiming their tenth victory against the Islanders in the last 12 games. The Sri Lankan side will be playing for pride as their last victory against India came in the year March 2018 in Colombo and they will be desperate to trounce India in their own backyard.
Meanwhile, Sri Lanka has already beaten the Indian team in Pune. In 2016, the Islanders defeated India by 5 wickets at the same venue. Team India is currently ranked 5th in the T20I rankings while Sri Lanka is at the 7th place. This match will provide a perfect stage for the Lankans to show their impeccable skills.
Now let us take a look at some numbers that could be important for both the teams:
- India have played two games at the venue till now. The team has won one and lost one. Just as mentioned above, the loss came at the hands of Sri Lanka in 2016.
- Virat Kohli’s side has won 12 out of the 18 T20I games against Sri Lanka, which means this is the most number of wins for India against a team.
- Jasprit Bumrah and Yuzvendra will be looking to achieve a massive record in T20Is. Both the bowlers are just one wicket shy of becoming India’s leading wicket-taker in the shortest format. They both have 52 wickets each.
- Indian skipper Virat Kohli is just one run shy of achieving another milestone. If he manages to open his account in the third game, then he will complete 11,000 international runs as captain. As a whole, he will become the 6th captain to feature in that coveted list.
- Virat Kohli is the only batsman to score 609 runs at this venue across all the formats. He has 267 runs in Tests (3 innings), 319 runs in ODIs (4 innings), and 21 runs in T20Is (1 inning). No other batsman has even crossed the 150-run mark at this venue.
The final game of the series will take place later today.
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