ENG vs SL: 5 Sri Lanka players who disappointed in T20I series

Three disappointing performances with both the bat and ball resulted in Sri Lanka losing the three-match T20I series against England by a 3-0 margin. The batting unit, who had no clue against the English bowlers throughout the series, could only amass paltry totals of 129/7, 111/7 and 91 respectively.

The performances would have increased the worries of the Sri Lankan team management with the T20 World Cup around the corner. The Islanders are yet to finalize their squad for the mega event.

Sri Lanka are all out for 91 ☝️England win by 89 runs in Southampton, sealing a 3-0 series victory 👏#ENGvSL | https://t.co/HCVIYWgPts pic.twitter.com/3Vhron2EBz

— ICC (@ICC) June 26, 2021

On that note, let us see which five key Sri Lankan players were a big disappointment in the recently concluded T20I series.

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#1 Danushka Gunathilaka

Sam Curran celebrating Danushka Gunathilaka's run out.

Much was expected from the left-handed opener, who is known for his explosive batting style. But his performances were nowhere near the high standards set by himself in the Lanka Premier League and the few international matches that followed. Sam Curran ran him out in the second game, while he seemed to have no answer to Chris Jordan and David Willey's deliveries in the other two matches.

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#2 Avishka Fernando

Avishka Fernando failed to reach double digits in the two games he played.

Another opener who made everyone notice him by scoring a century against England at the 2019 World Cup had a poor outing in the first two matches as he failed to give Sri Lanka a decent start. He didn't reach double digits in both games and was eventually dropped for the third and final match.

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#3 Wanindu Hasaranga

Wanindu Hasaranga had a series to forget.

The star Sri Lankan star all-rounder had an average T20I series where he could only pick up two wickets and didn't contribute anything with the bat. The Asian side had high hopes from their leading spinner in the shortest format, but Hasaranga failed to deliver. He would like to quickly forget this performance and prepare for the upcoming ODI series against England, starting from June 29.

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#4 Isuru Udana

Batted, @JBairstow21! 🏏👏Scorecard/clips: https://t.co/uEV5KsTx9U🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 #ENGvSL 🇱🇰 @IGcom pic.twitter.com/NH8J7AtQEE

— England Cricket (@englandcricket) June 26, 2021

Isuru Udana was going to be a key bowler for Sri Lanka in the T20I series, given the English conditions would suit his bowling style. However, Udana's performance was below par in all the games as he couldn't provide the much needed support to Dushmantha Chameera, who was the sole bright performer for the visitors. He failed to add quick runs with the bat down the order as well and ended the series on a low.

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#5 Kusal Mendis

Kusal Mendis scored just 45 runs in the series.

Sri Lanka's middle order mainstay had a T20 series to forget, amassing just 45 runs across three fixtures. He scored a duck in the first game before managing a run-a-ball 39 in his second. However, his runs failed to give the Sri Lankan innings any momentum. Kusal Mendis' form has been an area of concern for the Islanders. He would want to regain his touch at the earliest as Sri Lanka would be expecting big knocks from their main batsman in the upcoming limited-overs series against England and India.