SL VS RSA - 3rd T20I, South Africa tour of Sri Lanka, 2021

It's no secret that Sri Lanka are on a downward slide since 2015. And if you thought them beating an arguably fourth string Indian side was some form of a renaissance, well, there's no easy way to put it, but no, it wasn't, there's no renaissance of any form. South Africa, though, take back a lot of confidence. They have their captaincy woes to sort out, but a 3-0 win does paper over most problems. Okay, hope you had fun reading us as I, Vineet Anantharaman, sign off on behalf of Akshay Maanay, Nikhil Jadhav and our scorer, Harish. Until hopefully something more even, ta ta!!

Keshav Maharaj | Winning skipper: Full credit to the boys, they played really well after losing the ODIs. Good preparation building up to the World Cup. I think from a bowling front, we can look to strive for a better performance in the powerplay. In the batting, it is about putting partnerships and having one batsman batting through always helps. Obviously the bubble life has its challenges. But we look to each other for support and builds a team ethos. We have to find a way to get through it together and that shows in our performances. We can get better in the field and we need to brush up on.

Dasun Shanaka | Losing skipper: First of all, a big congratulation to South Africa. Our bowling was good but we need to think again about our batting unit. SA have been outstanding against spin. Not a lot of positives in this series. Hasaranga and Karunaratne are the positives for us. Though we lost the series, we have the confidence of beating India and South Africa in ODIs. The boys know what they need to do to step up and we'll do that. Wickets are key in T20s, though we had starts we just threw wickets in the middle overs and that is a concern going ahead.

Quinton de Kock | MoM | MoS: Obviously I have been here a couple of times so I know the conditions and just look to get the job done. I didn't have too much of a break, I was home only for a week. I played The Hundred and picked up some skills there. Body management is key for the season going forward but apart from that there isn't too much to think about.

21:56 Local Time, 16:26 GMT, 21:56 IST: Another day, another one-sided thrashing. Another rank-turner intended to expose the opposition, and another self-collapse. There's never a good time to lose, but there's surely never a worse time than a month before the T20 World Cup to lose, and to lose like this. So if you thought the last game was as skewed as a no-contest could be, this one's pushed the boundaries further. And the pattern was just the same. Sri Lanka opting to bat, crumbling against spin, and then the opening partnership sealing the deal with Quinton making you wonder what the fuss was all about. Hendricks too was very impressive here, putting on a show with some exquisite hits. Sri Lanka's bowling, again, looked lost for answers. You can't blame them with a target as paltry as this and batsmen as good as this. Right, here come the presentations ..

Karunaratne to de Kock, 2 runs, punches it on the up, gets it through extra cover's dive, comes back for a second, and 3-0 ..

Karunaratne to R Hendricks, 1 run, short again, outside off, and a neat swivel-pull, keeping it along the ground to deep square leg. Also, this now is the highest partnership for SA against SL in T20Is, EVER

Karunaratne to R Hendricks, 2 runs, 128kph, pitches it up on middle, and a bottom-handed shovel straight down the ground

Karunaratne to R Hendricks, 2 runs, 115kph, slower short one. And a jumpy airborne pull, wide of long-on

Chamika Karunaratne [1.0-0-6-0] is back into the attack

7 runs | 36 balls

Kamindu Mendis to de Kock, no run, another leg-cleared heave across the line. Nope, no connection

Kamindu Mendis to de Kock, no run, spots QdK's room-making and fires it flat on the legs, which gets pulled straight to short fine leg

Kamindu Mendis to R Hendricks, 1 run, way too short, swatted away hard, to backward square leg

Kamindu Mendis to R Hendricks, 2 runs, full, on middle, and a leaning clip with the angle, round the corner. And Hendricks has his own fifty to celebrate as well ..

Kamindu Mendis to de Kock, 1 run, quiet on-punch, closing his bat face, tickling it into mid-wicket

Kamindu Mendis to R Hendricks, 1 run, flat, back-footed jab, down to long-on

Kamindu Mendis [2.0-0-17-0] is back into the attack

Shanaka to de Kock, FOUR, okay, he's toying around. He walks across, sweeping this with a roll of his wrists and nailing the gap behind square again

Shanaka to de Kock, 2 runs, slower floater, outside off and QdK's in a hurry. He slices, misreading the pace, loses shape with the bat handle turning in his palms, but the miscue clears mid-off comfortably