Sri Lanka cricket has promised the national team hefty prize money as they ended the limited-overs series against India on a high. Sri Lanka completed a remarkable comeback after losing the ODI leg to win their first T20I series since October 2019. Impressed by their achievements, the cricket board has announced prize money of USD 100,000.

After competing exceptionally well in the ODI series, Sri Lanka got the better of India in the shortest format. Though the home side lost the opening T20I, they brought their A-game with the ball against the visitors in the final two games. While the Indian side had been hugely depleted after the first match, it doesn’t take away an incredible performance from underconfident hosts.

Wanindu Hasaranga, the leg-spinner, earned the man of the series award as he left the Indian batsmen in two minds in all three games. The 24-year old grabbed figures of 4-0-9-4 in the final T20 international to restrict India to 81-8 in their stipulated overs. Reportedly, Hasaranga also remains in line to replace Adam Zampa for the Royal Challengers Bangalore in the second phase of IPL 2021.

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Sri Lanka Cricket wishes to congratulate the National Team for the excellence shown on the field against India: Board

Sri Lanka cricket board congratulated India for their excellent performance shown in the T20I series, winning it by 2-1. They believe this win would go a long way in restoring the team’s reputation moving forward into the future. Hence, they decided to award a sum of US$ 100,000 for the national team.

“Sri Lanka Cricket wishes to congratulate the National Team for the excellence shown on the field during the T20i series played against India, thus winning the series 2 -1. The Executive Committee of Sri Lanka Cricket lauded the efforts of the players, coaches, and the support staff for bringing this much-needed victory, which it believes will augur well for the National team going forward. Hence, in order to recognize this victory, the Executive Committee of Sri Lanka Cricket decided to award a sum of US$ 100,000 for the National Team,” SLC said in a statement.

Sri Lanka had won the third and deciding T20I to win the three-match series 2-1 on Thursday.

“The Executive Committee of Sri Lanka Cricket lauded the effort of the players, coaches, and the support staff for bringing this much-needed victory, which it believes will augur well for the national team going forward,” said SLC in an official statement.

“Hence, in order to recognize this victory, the Executive Committee of Sri Lanka Cricket has decided to award a sum of USD 100,000 for the national team.” Wanindu Hasaranga’s four-wicket haul and Dhananjaya de Silva’s unbeaten 23-run knock helped Sri Lanka defeat India by seven wickets in the third and final T20I. With this win, Sri Lanka won the series 2-1.

In the last game, India didn’t have quite a few of their players, who went into isolation after Krunal Pandya tested positive for COVID-19. India played with only five specialist batters in their last two T20Is at the R Premadasa Stadium in Colombo and their inexperience in batting showed.

Wanindu Hasaranga ran through their batting as he picked up four wickets and gave away only nine runs in his quota of four overs. He also got support from Shanaka, who picked two wickets.

Earlier, Sri Lanka spinner Wanindu Hasaranga showed remarkable skills with the ball as the Indian batting line-up was restricted to a mediocre 81/8 in the allotted twenty overs. After being eight down for 63, Chetan Sakariya and Kuldeep Yadav ensured the visitors got over the 80-run mark.

In the run-chase, Dhananjaya de Silva’s unbeaten 20-ball 23 helped the Lankans over the line. For India, Rahul Chahar picked up three wickets in his four overs, giving away 15 runs.