India were pushed more than they had been at any point in this series but still ran home victors in the final T20I at Trivandrum to complete a 5-0 series win over Sri Lanka – the first time they have swept a bilateral T20I series of this length at home. Besides a stronger performance from their opponents, the hosts faced sterner challenges – the rare failure of their top order, a dewy ball in defence but managed to overcome them all as they ran home winners by 15 runs.

The win was set up by the skipper Harmanpreet Kaur, who hadn’t crossed 21 in the four previous innings of this series but come a tricky situation, she stepped up with a 43-ball 68. After being put in to bat, India found themselves in early trouble at 27 for 2, with debutant G Kamalini, coming in for the rested Smriti Mandhana, following the in-form Shafali Verma back to the hut. Inside the 10th over, India also lost Harleen Deol and Richa Ghosh and were struggling for any kind of momentum.

But Harmanpreet rose to the moment with a commanding knock that mixed caution with aggression. She hit nine fours and a six and was particularly effective playing the field against the left-arm spinners. Even with Harmanpreet providing the backbone of the innings, India needed a late push from Arundhati Reddy and Amanjot Kaur, who scored a pair of useful 20s to push the score forward. Arundhati, in particular, smashed 27 off 11 balls as India found 66 runs in the final five overs to get to 175.

Chasing 176, Sri Lanka produced their best batting performance of the series, built around an excellent 79-run partnership off just 56 balls between Hasini Perera and Imesha Dulani for the second wicket. Perera, playing her 81st T20I, finally brought up her maiden half-century in the format, while Dulani also reached the milestone as the visitors raced to stay within touching distance of the target.

The momentum shifted dramatically when Amanjot Kaur struck with her very first delivery to dismiss Dulani, breaking the dangerous stand. Perera continued to fight, threatening to pull off an unlikely heist. But after clubbing a four and a six off Sree Charani, she was cleaned up by the left-arm spinner with a full delivery that slipped under Perera’s bat to knock out the stumps. Between that, Deepti Sharma trapped Nilakshi Silva to pass Megan Schutt as the format’s leading wicket-taker.

Those late wickets meant, Sri Lanka were left needing 34 runs from the final two overs. They got close, but ultimately not close enough to cause India enough jitters on the night.

Brief scores:

India Women 175 for 7 in 20 overs

(Gunalan Kamalini 12, Harleen Deol 13, Harmanpreet Kaur 68, Amanjot Kaur 21, Arundhati Reddy 27*; Nimasha Meepage 1-25, Kavisha Dilhari 2-11, Rashmika Sewwandi 2-42, Chamari Athapaththu 2-21) beat Sri Lanka Women 160 for 7 in 20 overs (Hasini Perera 65, Imesha Dulani 50, Rashmika Sewwamdi 14*; Deepti Sharma 1-28, Arundhati Reddy 1-16, Sneh Rana 1-31, Vaishnavi Sharma 1-33, Shree Charani 1-31, Amanjot Kaur 1-17 ) by 15 runs

[Cricbuzz]

Former Sri Lanka Under-19 cricketer Akshu Fernando has died on December 30, after having been in a coma for several years.

Fernando had been crossing an unprotected railway track in the southern Colombo suburb of Mount Lavinia following a training session on the beach, when he was struck by a train on December 28, 2018. Having been critically injured in the accident, he had been on life support for much of the time since.

A bright right-handed batter, Fernando’s domestic career seemed to just be taking off when he was hit by the train at age 27. He had scored his maiden first-class hundred for Ragama Cricket Club in the weeks before the accident, and had also been developing his offspin at the time. All told, he had seven 50-plus scores at the senior level. In a nine-year domestic career, he had played for Colts Cricket Club, Panadura Sports Club, and Chilaw Marians Sports Club, among others.

International commentator and one of Ragama Cricket Club’s most senior administrators Roshan Abeysinghe paid tribute to Fernando following the news of his death.

“He was truly a wonderful young man whose promising career was cut short by a cruel accident,” Abeysinghe said. “A quality player for his school and his final club Ragama, it’s a sad day for all of us who knew him. A cheerful, friendly and thorough gentleman was he. We will miss you Akshu and remember you for the rest of our life. Rest in peace sweet prince.”

[Cricinfo]