Rohit Sharma-led India register a dominating win over a depleted Sri Lankan team. In the first T20I at Bharat Ratna Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ekana Cricket Stadium, Lucknow, the hosts won by a massive margin of 62 runs. While Ishan Kishan and Shreyas Iyer impressed with their respective half-centuries, bowlers were clinical in approach, not letting the visitors get back in the game.
This is Rohit's 15th T20I win at home as captain. He has equalled Eoin Morgan and Kane Williamson's tally of most wins at home in the format.
Lackluster run chase
Chasing a total of 200, Sri Lanka failed to put up a fight and scored 137/6 in 20 overs. Bhuvneshwar Kumar struck early as he got Pathum Nissanka out for a golden duck. The visitors were unimpressive in the powerplay overs as they scored just 29 runs and lost two wickets. Bhuvneshwar got the wicket of opener Kamil Mishara with the new ball as well to put Sri Lanka on back foot.
In the middle overs, Sri Lanka were nowhere near the required run rate. Charith Asalanka held on to one end whereas wicketkeeper-batter Dinesh Chandimal and skipper Dasun Shanaka disappointed. In the end, Chamika Karunaratne and Dushmantha Chameera contributed with cameos of 14-ball 21 each. Asalanka’s strike rate was way below par in the context of the game despite him scoring an unbeaten 53.
Apart from Bhuvneshwar, Venkatesh Iyer got two wickets as well. Skipper Rohit gave Venkatesh a chance to bowl in the death overs as well. Spinners Yuzvendra Chahal and Ravindra Jadeja picked up one wicket each too.
Kishan back to his usual self
Earlier, Shanaka won the toss and elected to bowl first. India got off to a fiery start with Kishan going all guns blazing in powerplay overs after an ordinary T20I series against West Indies. The wicketkeeper-batter got a reprieve in the seventh over as his catch was dropped in the outfield. Kishan shared an 111-run opening partnership in 11.5 overs. Rohit became the leading run-scorer in T20Is by surpassing Martin Guptill and Virat Kohli but missed out on his half-century. Rohit lost his wicket to Lahiru Kumara as he failed to read the slower delivery. He scored 44 runs from 32 deliveries including two fours and one six.
Kishan kept the pressure on Sri Lankan bowlers. Promoted to no.3 in Kohli’s absence, Shreyas scored a half-century as well. Kishan lost his wicket in the 17th over but not before registering the highest score by an Indian wicketkeeper-batter in T20I cricket. He scored 89 runs from 56 deliveries including 10 fours and three sixes. Coming in to bat at no.4, Ravindra Jadeja remained a spectator on the other end as Shreyas was destructive in death overs. He remained unbeaten for 57 off 28 deliveries including five fours and two sixes whereas Jadeja faced just four deliveries to score his three runs.
