Ashwin spins India to series win against Lanka – Men in Blue give themselves boost before T20 WCup

15/02/2016

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Members of the Indian cricket team celebrate with the winning trophy after their Twenty20 cricket series win against Sri Lanka, in Vishakapatnam, India, on Feb 14. (AP)

VISAKHAPATNAM, Feb 14, (Agencies): India gave themselves a boost before next month’s Twenty20 World Cup at home as Ravichandran Ashwin grabbed four wickets in their series-clinching nine-wicket victory over Sri Lanka in the third and final Twenty20 international on Sunday.

The off-spinner claimed three wickets in his first seven deliveries and finished with 4-8, best by an Indian bowler in this format, as Sri Lanka folded for 82, their lowest total in Twenty20 Internationals.

Chasing the small target, India romped home with 6.1 overs to spare to seal the series 2-1 at Visakhapatnam’s ACA-VDCA Stadium.

Opener Shikhar Dhawan topscored for the hosts with an unbeaten run-a-ball 46 but it was Ashwin’s guile that laid the foundation for India’s comprehensive victory.

Put into bat, Sri Lanka got off to a nightmarish start with Ashwin opening the attack for India.

The spinner drew Niroshan Dickwella forward with his third delivery to get him stumped before trapping Tillakaratne Dilshan leg-before wicket with the sixth.

The wily spinner struck another blow with the first ball of his second over when rival captain Dinesh Chandimal holed out in the deep.

Sri Lanka’s first 21 runs cost them their top half and only Dasun Shanaka (19) and Thisara Perera (12) managed double digit scores in their abject batting capitulation against the Indian spinners who claimed seven of the 10 wickets.

To make it worse for them, the tourists were also handed out a couple of poor decisions with Asela Gunaratne and Sachithra Senanayake given caught out even though replays did not suggest any contact between bat and ball on either occasion.

Defending the paltry score, Dushmantha Chameera dismissed Rohit Sharma for 13 but Dhawan and Ajinkya Rahane (22 not out) steered India to victory to ensure they remain the top ranked team in this format.

Ashwin, who claimed nine wickets in three matches, grabbed both man-of-the-match and man-of-the-series awards.

Bangladesh on Sunday recalled batsman Imrul Kayes in their 15-man squad for the Asia Cup Twenty20 tournament to be held in the capital Dhaka from Feb 24 to March 6.

Twenty-nine year old Kayes will replace opener Tamim Iqbal who will take a break due to the birth of his first child.

“We recalled Imrul because he is the best available option for us in the absence of Tamim,” said selector Habibul Bashar.

The tournament will be held in the Twenty20 international format for the first time and is expected to serve as a warm-up for the ICC World Twenty20 to be held in India in March and April.

Afghanistan, the United Arab Emirates, Hong Kong and Oman will play in a qualifying round for the Asia Cup from Feb 19 to 22 at Fatullah, on the outskirts of Dhaka.

The winner of the qualifying round will join the four Test-playing countries, India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh.

Bangladesh will host the event for the fifth time, with all matches being held at Dhaka’s Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium.

Squad: Mashrafe Mortaza (capt), Soumya Sarkar, Imrul Kayes, Mohammad Mithun, Shakib Al Hasan, Mushfiqur Rahim, Sabbir Rahman, Mahmudullah Riyad, Nasir Hossain, Nurul Hasan, Arafat Sunny, Mustafizur Rahman, Al-Amin Hossain, Taskin Ahmed and Abu Hider.

India vs Sri Lanka Scoreboard

VISAKHAPATNAM, Feb 14, (AFP): Completed scoreboard in the third and final Twenty20 international between India and Sri Lanka in Visakhapatnam on Sunday:

SRI LANKA

Dickwella st Dhoni b Ashwin 1
Dilshan lbw b Ashwin………………………………………….. 1
Chandimal c Pandya b Ashwin………………………………. 8
Gunaratne c Raina b Ashwin…………………………………. 4
Siriwardana b Nehra…………………………………………… 4
Shanaka b Jadeja…………………………………………….. 19
Prasanna run out (Jadeja)…………………………………….. 9
Perera c Jadeja b Raina……………………………………… 12
Senanayake c Dhoni b Raina………………………………… 8
Fernando b Bumrah……………………………………………. 1
Chameera not out……………………………………………… 9

Extras (b2, w3, nb1)………………………………………………. 6

Total (all out; overs 18)………………………………………….. 82

Fall of wickets: 1-1 (Dickwella), 2-3 (Dilshan), 3-12 (Chandimal), 4-20 (Asela), 5-21 (Siriwardana), 6-48 (Prasanna), 7-54 (Shanaka), 8-72 (Senanayake), 9-73 (Perera), 10-82 (Fernando)

Bowling: Ashwin 4-1-8-4, Nehra 2-0-17-1, Bumrah 3-0-10-1, Jadeja 4-1-11-1, Yuvraj 1-0-15-0, Pandya 2-0-13-0, Raina 2-0-6-2.

INDIA