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Rohit Sharma-led India continued their winning spree as they clinched a series sweep against Sri Lanka with a six-wicket victory in the final T20I on Sunday (February 27). This was India's hat-trick of whitewash in the shorted format under Rohit's regime. Shreyas Iyer (73 not out off 45) once again rose to the occasion as he struck third consecutive half century to remain unbeaten throughout the T20 series against Sri Lanka. There were some records which were broken and established in the final match of the T20 series. Let's have a look at them.
India equal record for most consecutive T20I victories
In the third and final T20I match, the Men in Blue India made light work of Sri Lankan team as they overhauled the target of 147 with ease to earn a facile six-wicket win in Dharamsala. The win earned India a series sweep which also saw them equalling the record for the most consecutive T20I victories without suffering a defeat. Rohit's men emulated Afghanistan and Romania with 12 wins out of 12 games in the format.
Hitman Rohit becomes most-capped T20I player
India's skipper Rohit Sharma on Sunday became the most-capped T20I player when he appeared in his 125th game in the shortest format against Sri Lanka. The Indian captain went past Pakistan's Shoaib Malik for the feat (124 T20Is). Rohit is the only Indian cricketer to have played more than 100 T20Is. Former captains Mahendra Singh Dhoni (retired, 98 games) and Virat Kohli (97) follow Rohit at second and third position respectively among Indian players. While Malik's former Pakistan teammate Mohammad Hafeez follows him at the third spot in the overall list, England captain Eoin Morgan and Bangladesh' Mahmudullah follow the Pakistan duo at fourth and fifth spot.
Most T20I appearances
Rohit Sharma - 125*
Shoaib Malik (PAK) - 124
Mohammad Hafeez (PAK) - 119
Eoin Morgan (ENG) - 115
Mahmudullah (BAN) - 113
Shreyas' heroics
Shreyas Iyer remained the hero of the match as he was awared both Man of the Match and Man of the series for his top-notch display with the willow in all the three matches. Shreyas played the best innings in every match and earned India the series sweep against Sri Lanka. In the final T20I he struck an unbeaten 73 off 45. Meanwhile, in the first match, where Iyer scored 57 not out in 28 balls while in the second match, he scored 74 runs in 44 balls in India's victory. Overhall he hit a hat-trick of half-centuries in this series.
Shreyas achieved a rare feat
Shreyas Iyer has become the fourth batsman from India to score three half-centuries in three consecutive innings of T20. At the same time, he has become the first Indian batsman to score the most runs in a three-matche series. Former captain Virat Kohli has done this thrice in three innings where he has scored 50 or more runs. Whereas KL Rahul has done this twice. At the same time, captain Rohit Sharma has done this once.
New Zealand's Brendon McCullum, West Indies' Chris Gayle, Namibia's Craig Williams and Canada's Ryan Pathan hold the record for most fifties in consecutive innings. These four batsmen have scored half-centuries in four consecutive innings.
Shreyas smashed 204 in SL T20 series
Shreyas scored a total of 204 runs in this series at a strike rate of 174. He has become the first batsman from India who has scored more than 200 runs in T20I series. In this series, he played unbeaten innings of 56, 74 and 73 runs. That is, the Sri Lankan bowlers failed to take the wicket of Shreyas throughout the series. Australian star batter David Warner is the only batsman to score 217 runs in the series against Sri Lanka in the year 2019 and remained not out in the entire series.
