Player of the Match
Player of the Match

10:59pm A long, long presentation to finish of a long home season for India. One they've utterly dominated, and one that has seen them grow into a larger squad with quite some depth. On paper, it is a formidable team. One that is doubly impressive because it has been put together so far ahead of the 2019 World Cup. A new challenge awaits them in about two weeks time. We will bring that to you, of course. Thanks for joining us. Have a merry Christmas.

Rohit Sharma: We were playing with seven batters, plus Washington is a good batsman as well so we backed ourselves to go and get it. It's something we discussed at the start of the tour as well, that we want to play with six batsmen and an allrounder. Very happy with the way be played in the ODI and T20 series. I think it's a team effort. The work ethic of each and every guy. They've done their homework thoroughly. It showed they were ready for the opportunity. Lot of the guys were playing their first or second game but it didn't feel like that. It was our job as the team management to back them completely. Looking forward to he SA tour. It's going to be a different challenge. But I want to reiterate about our home season - it's never easy to beat anyone. We were challenged at different times and we came back.

Unadkat: Things went really well for me. I had some plans and I had my preparations before the series. To bowl in the Powerplay was something I was looking forward to do. It's been long [since debut] I've been through the domestic circuit and played a lot there. That really helped mature as a player. Having played so early gave me a boost. I'm thankful to the management for backing me. The most important phase for any cricketer is the domestic ciurcuit where you bowl on the flat tracks in this country; and you keep going through the grind. To come out well really gives you the confidence. I was always eager to do well for the nation to come and give my best whenever I got a chance with these guys.

Jaydev Unadkat is the Man of the Match and the Man of the Series.

Thisara Perera: As a captain I'm really proud of the bowling unit for defending 130 like this. I'm proud of my team mates. We've always had a good fielding coach and that's we've really improved out fielding as well. We have learnt lots on this tour. We all know India is a big team at the moment. We've learnt a lot of things and we have to continue our performance. Our batting has to click and I think we will go a long way.

Ravi Shastri: We respect oppositions and when you do that you stay grounded. The intent was there from everyone which was nice to see. [Unadkat] very very good. He's been around for 5-6 years. He understands his bowling. There's so much of cricket being played. and T20 for us - we don't care. We use it to give chances to youngsters. KL Rahul is a class player. A big headache for us. He's the most improved player in world cricket in the last 18 months. It's a good side, and it's a side that can compete anywhere in the world.

Manish Pandey: It was nice to see MS and Dinesh finish it in style. I though we batted fairly alright but the wicket was doing a bit. It should have got over a littler earlier than it did.

Dinesh Karthik: Under pressure a little bit. I think it was important with Dhoni around to take it as deep as possible. I though 12 off the last over was gettable, but I got one in the slot. It would have been a great day one Test wicket, there was bounce and movement. It's great to play T20 on these kinds of pitches where 150 is a winning score. I enjoy these kind of pitches. I think we dominated and were on point, except the first ODI in Dharamshala.

10:27pm India finish their home season with a clean sweep. No Christmas miracle for Sri Lanka, but they ran India very close. Not a lot of fluidity from India's batsmen today, certainly nowhere near the first two matches. A lot of that was down to Sri Lanka's bowlers, who plugged away on a pitch that finally gave them assistance. But they didn't have enough runs on the board. 136 was never going to scare India, even if it did make them shudder. Not the kind of clinical finish they'd have liked, but it's a big win nonetheless.

19.2
4
NLTC Perera to Dhoni, FOUR, miscued yorker, is a low full toss on middle stump. He leans in and flicks the wrists to place it between fine leg and deep midwicket to bring up the win
19.1
2
NLTC Perera to Dhoni, 2 runs, good length outside off, drags it to long-on...whose throw hits the stumps, deflects into the off side and allows Dhoni to take strike for yet another finishing moment

END OF OVER:
19 | 12 Runs | IND: 133/5 (3 runs required from 6 balls, RR: 7.00, RRR: 3.00)

  • Dinesh Karthik18 (12b)
  • MS Dhoni10 (8b)
  • Nuwan Pradeep4-0-36-0
  • Thisara Perera3-0-16-0
18.6
6
Pradeep to Karthik, SIX, butchered over square leg. That should be that. A knee-height full toss at middle stump, he merely has to get his front leg out of the way and swing his natural swing. Gets it neatly out of the middle and it goes a long way into the crowd
18.5
2
Pradeep to Karthik, 2 runs, swings across the line, midwicket is i, but he's not connected well enough to find the boundary. Length ball tailing in from outside off, and he'll be a little disappointed. Hard hands as it came in
18.4
0
Pradeep to Karthik, no run, narrowly misses leg stump as Karthik falls into the off side to try and ramp this length ball over short fine
18.3
2
Pradeep to Karthik, 2 runs, good length outside off, gets the front leg out of the way and swings across the line like a rebel teenager who isn't happy with his coach. Gets it to deep square's left

Suddenly, it's a nervous energy in the stadium. Out come the nails...

18.2
1
Pradeep to Dhoni, 1 run, back of a length outside off, looks to drag it past midwicket with a closed face and ends up lobbing it back towards the non-striker
18.1
1
Pradeep to Karthik, 1 run, back of a length outside off, punched to sweeper off the back foot

END OF OVER:
18 | 5 Runs | IND: 121/5 (15 runs required from 12 balls, RR: 6.72, RRR: 7.50)

  • MS Dhoni9 (7b)
  • Dinesh Karthik7 (7b)
  • Thisara Perera3-0-16-0
  • Dushmantha Chameera4-0-22-2
17.6
0
NLTC Perera to Dhoni, no run, short ball at off stump, walks into it and looks to shovel this behind square leg. Cops it on the body

"We want six," demands the crowd.

17.5
1
NLTC Perera to Karthik, 1 run, short in the corridor, sliced to third man
17.4
1
NLTC Perera to Dhoni, 1 run, full at off stump, eagerly reaching out for this, driven to long-off
17.3
1
NLTC Perera to Karthik, 1 run, short ball in the corridor, chopped with great timing but Shanaka puts in a big leap to his left at point to save the boundary
17.2
1
NLTC Perera to Dhoni, 1 run, full and outside off, gets to the pitch and taps it to long-off
17.1
1
NLTC Perera to Karthik, 1 run, length ball at middle, skips down the track and flicks it to deep square

Thisara

END OF OVER:
17 | 8 Runs 1 Wkt | IND: 116/5 (20 runs required from 18 balls, RR: 6.82, RRR: 6.66)

  • MS Dhoni7 (4b)
  • Dinesh Karthik4 (4b)
  • Dushmantha Chameera4-0-22-2
  • Nuwan Pradeep3-0-24-0

The end of a sensational spell. Who can keep Sri Lanka in this now?

16.6
0
Chameera to Dhoni, no run, review for lbw after Nitin Menon turns this down. Dhoni was rooted to the crease as this inswinger strikes him in front of middle stump...no bat. And tracker says this is climbing above the stumps. He was looking to flick, standing slightly on his toes
16.5
2
Chameera to Dhoni, 2 runs, short ball outside off, gets closer this time and is more watchful as he nudges this to sweeper's right
16.4
4
Chameera to Dhoni, FOUR, outside edge just evades Dickwella! Chameera has bowled superbly tonight. Gets this to move away in the corridor. Dhoni stays stuck to the crease and stabs at it. Big edge, no slip. Dickwella's reach is only that wide
16.3
1
Chameera to Karthik, 1 run, inswinger, good length at middle. Punched gracefully on the up to long-on

We're getting a replacement ball into the field.

Navin: "DK playing his 13th T20i match for India, keeping in mind that he was the player of match in India's first ever T20i in 2006, 13 matches in almost 12 years sums up his career!!!"

16.2
1
Chameera to Dhoni, 1 run, back of a length at off stump, walks across into the off side and dabs it behind square on the leg side

Bumper year

37

No. of wins by India across all formats this year, the second-most by any team in a year. Australia won 38 matches in 2003.

India's youngest

0

No. of players to appear for India at younger age than Washington Sundar who makes his debut at age of 18 years, 80 days in this match. The previous youngest was Rishabh Pant at 19y, 120d.