India vs Sri Lanka, 3rd T20I: Toss Report

High-flying India will be looking to wrap up their first series of 2020 on a high when they take on Sri Lanka in the third and final T20I in Pune. The hosts will be firm favourites for the clash especially after making light work of the visitors in the second game. India totally dominated the contest in the previous game to win it by seven wickets.

Virat Kohli’s decision to bat first turned out to be spot on as the bowlers came up with a fine show. Led by young pacers Shardul Thakur (3 for 23) and Navdeep Saini (2 for 18), the hosts restricted Sri Lanka to a below par total of 142 for 9 in the allotted 20 overs. In reply, India chased down the total with utmost ease.

Openers KL Rahul and Shikhar Dhawan set the platform for the easy chase by adding 71 runs in 9 overs for the first wicket. Both of them departed in quick succession but Virat Kohli and Shreyas Iyer made sure India do not stutter in their chase. The skipper scored a quick-fire 30 off 17 balls to take his side over the finishing line.

The Virat Kohli-led side will be keen to make the most of the momentum and will back themselves to get the work done. On the other hand, Sri Lanka will be looking to correct the mistakes they made in the previous game and put on a good show to level the series.

In Action ??
Bowlers going full tilt ahead of the final T20I in Pune ?#TeamIndia #INDvSL @Paytm pic.twitter.com/4ufGEXsNAN

— BCCI (@BCCI) January 9, 2020

Toss report:

Sri Lanka won the toss and decided to bowl first against India in the third and final T20I at the Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium, Pune.

Here is what the captains said:

Virat Kohli:

We wanted to bat first as we wanted to do something different today. Trend is going towards team batting second. You can’t go into the match thinking you can only do well when you chase. We want to embrace difficult things also. We have made three changes today. Sanju Samson comes in place of Rishabh Pant. Chahal replaces Kuldeep and Manish Pandey gets a game in place of Shivam Dube.

Lasith Malinga:

We will bowl first. There might be dew in the second innings. Our top-four batsmen need to get big runs. We have discussed that. We have two changes. Angelo and Sandakan come in.

Teams:

India (Playing XI):

Lokesh Rahul, Shikhar Dhawan, Shreyas Iyer, Virat Kohli(c), Manish Pandey, Sanju Samson(w), Washington Sundar, Shardul Thakur, Navdeep Saini, Jasprit Bumrah, Yuzvendra Chahal

Sri Lanka (Playing XI):

Danushka Gunathilaka, Avishka Fernando, Kusal Perera(w), Oshada Fernando, Angelo Mathews, Dhananjaya de Silva, Dasun Shanaka, Lakshan Sandakan, Wanindu Hasaranga, Lasith Malinga(c), Lahiru Kumara