For Sri Lanka, the worst fears indeed came true, as they became the first side to be whitewashed in all forms of the game in a single tour, in their backyard. The tour scorecard of 0-9 reflects a miserable outing for the hosts, which commenced with the Test series in Galle. Things went directly downwards from the battering of the first Test as the remainder of the tour was just a hammering.
The formalities came to an end finally with the one off T20I at Colombo. For the first time throughout India’s stay in Sri Lanka, the hosts batted with clear spirit and vision. A dominant finish saw them get to a competitive total of 170.
That, however, was messed up completely mainly due to weak and lackluster bowling effort. The Sri Lankans had simply no answers on how to stop the willow of Virat Kohli, as the Indian captain aced another chase with an icy cool half century.
Kohli found great support in Manish Pandey, who raced to his maiden T20I half century. With the tour coming to a close, Sri Lankan captain Upul Tharanga just highlighted the misery of the hosts.
“No, we were 15-20 runs short. Munaweera batted really well. In the 10-14th overs we lost momentum,” said Tharanga about the turning point of the game.
The Sri Lankan captain concluded by lauding Virat Kohli for his superlative knock.
“The way Virat batted was outstanding. That’s the difference between the two teams. Good sign for us that we fielded well,” said Tharanga.