India drew first blood in the 3-T20I series with a big win against Sri Lanka at Lucknow.
Nearly everything went wrong for Sri Lanka, but one thing which was quite an error but could easily go unnoticed was the bowling changes.
Just as Dushmantha Chameera delivered a tight first over, he was taken out of the attack only to be brought back again in the 6th over. By then, Ishan Kishan has moved to 31 off 18.
Both 3rd and 4th overs went for 15 and 14 runs respectively and the momentum shifted completely towards India.
By the time Chameera came back for his 2nd over, Ishan was seeing the ball like a football and did not hesitate to slap him over square for a 6 off a 146 clicks short ball.
From that point onwards, Ishan Kishan was unstoppable. Yes, he was given a life on 43 but one could let that slide for the way he batted since then.
Sri Lanka was lacking enough armoury to keep India within reach. Although Lahiru Kumara picked Rohit Sharma’s wicket, he went for 43 in his 4 overs. Kishan was toying with him in his final over which went for 17 runs. Praveen Jayawickrama was not too much of a help either as he only bowled 2 overs and leaked 15 runs off it.
Jeffrey Vandersay was the only bowler who looked impressive, creating chances, building pressure and forcing the batters to false shots throughout his spell. He was unlucky to go wicketless after bowling so well.
Indian batters were meticulous in their run-making. They were attacking yet weren’t reckless. The highlight of this Indian innings was how well they played the field and maneuvered the ball into the gaps, moving around the crease and creating shots out of nowhere. Especially Ishan Kishan and Shreyas Iyer.
Kishan was captivating with his blazing strokeplay and controlled the innings right from the start. The left-hander shifted gears so smoothly that his scoring was hardly felt.
Iyer on the other hand crunched a few handsome sixes in the death overs to score a 25-ball fifty, completely wiping the Lankans out off the game.
It was quite sloppy bowling in the death by the Lankans as the last five overs went for 69 runs throwing the batters in the deep end with no floaters. Coming out to bat, Sri Lanka showed no intent in chasing this total down. The inexperienced top-order merely existed as the top 3 were undone for just 36 runs inside 7 overs.
The only batsman to shine for Sri Lanka was the vice-captain Charith Asalanka who made an unbeaten 53 off 47. He played a fine innings to find his form but lacked support from the other end to reap results.
Except for Charith and Chamika Karunaratne, who scored 21 runs, no other batter in the top 7 managed to score over 20 runs.
Jasprit Bumrah and Bhuvneshwar Kumar were the ones who set the platform right at the start for India with the ball. Bhuvi picked 2 wickets for 9 runs in 2 overs while Bumrah bowled his 2 overs for 13 runs.
Then the baton was taken by Yuzi Chahal who was impeccable with his line and length. The right-arm leggie bowled 3 overs for just 11 runs and picked up a wicket. With that, he went on to become the highest wicket-taker in T20Is for India.
Venkatesh Iyer too picked up a couple of wickets for his merits.
The Lankans were bundled out for just 137 runs handing the first win of the series to the hosts.
Result
| Batsmen | R | B | 4s | 6s | SR | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rohit Sharma | b Lahiru Kumara | 44 | 32 | 2 | 1 | 137.50 |
| Ishan Kishan | c Janith Liyanage b Dasun Shanaka | 89 | 56 | 7 | 2 | 158.93 |
| Shreyas Iyer | not out | 57 | 28 | 0 | 0 | 203.57 |
| Ravindra Jadedja | not out | 3 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 75.00 |
| Extras | 6 (b 0 , lb 0 , nb 0, w 6, pen 0) |
| Total | 199/2 (20 Overs, RR: 9.95) |
| Bowling | O | M | R | W | Econ | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dushmantha Chameera | 4 | 0 | 42 | 0 | 10.50 | |
| Lahiru Kumara | 4 | 0 | 43 | 1 | 10.75 | |
| Chamika Karunaratne | 4 | 0 | 46 | 0 | 11.50 | |
| Praveen Jayawickrama | 2 | 0 | 15 | 0 | 7.50 | |
| Jeffery Vandersay | 4 | 0 | 34 | 0 | 8.50 | |
| Dasun Shanaka | 2 | 0 | 19 | 1 | 9.50 | |
| Batsmen | R | B | 4s | 6s | SR | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pathum Nissanka | b | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 |
| Kamil Mishara | c Rohit Sharma b Bhuvneshwar Kumar | 13 | 12 | 0 | 0 | 108.33 |
| Janith Liyanage | c Sanju Samson b Shreyas Iyer | 11 | 17 | 0 | 0 | 64.71 |
| Charith Asalanka | not out | 53 | 47 | 0 | 0 | 112.77 |
| Dinesh Chandimal | st Ishan Kishan b Ravindra Jadedja | 10 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 111.11 |
| Dasun Shanaka | c Bhuvneshwar Kumar b Yuzvendra Chahal | 3 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 50.00 |
| Chamika Karunaratne | c Ishan Kishan b Shreyas Iyer | 21 | 14 | 0 | 0 | 150.00 |
| Dushmantha Chameera | not out | 24 | 14 | 0 | 0 | 171.43 |
| Extras | 2 (b 0 , lb 0 , nb 0, w 2, pen 0) |
| Total | 137/6 (20 Overs, RR: 6.85) |
| Bowling | O | M | R | W | Econ | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bhuvneshwar Kumar | 2 | 0 | 9 | 2 | 4.50 | |
| Jasprit Bumrah | 3 | 0 | 19 | 0 | 6.33 | |
| Axar Patel | 2 | 0 | 10 | 0 | 5.00 | |
| Yuzvendra Chahal | 3 | 0 | 11 | 1 | 3.67 | |
| Shreyas Iyer | 3 | 0 | 36 | 2 | 12.00 | |
| Ravindra Jadedja | 4 | 0 | 28 | 1 | 7.00 | |
| Deepak Chahar | 3 | 0 | 24 | 0 | 8.00 | |
