Team India defeated Sri Lanka by 38 runs to go 1-0 up in the three-match T20I series. It was an excellent combined bowling effort that took the visitors home following a decent outing with the bat.
Being put in to bat first, India had a horrendous start. Debutant Prithvi Shaw was dismissed off the first ball by Dushmantha Chameera. A partnership followed between Shikhar Dhawan and Sanju Samson but the latter fell after getting his eye in. Man of the series in the ODI’s, Suryakumar Yadav then came in and played a typical knock.
#TeamIndia win the 1st #SLvIND T20I by 38 runs šŖ
We go 1-0 in the series š pic.twitter.com/9FfFbx2TTZ
— BCCI (@BCCI) July 25, 2021
He took the role of the aggressor while the skipper sauntered through. Dhawan picked up the pace soon but was dismissed. Suryakumar reached his fifty off 33 balls but immediately lost his wicket in a quest to up the ante. Sri Lanka’s bowlers made perfect use of slower balls and tied India down in the death overs. Through Ishan Kishan’s cameo, the Men in Blue managed to put up 164 in their quota of 20 overs.
Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Deepak Chahar lead the way with the ball for India
A brilliant bowling effort from #TeamIndia led by Bhuvneshwar Kumar who finished with figures of 4/22 šš
š®š³ take a 1-0 lead in the T20I series š#OneFamily #MumbaiIndians #SLvIND @BCCI pic.twitter.com/1Bb0XTMUfn
— Mumbai Indians (@mipaltan) July 25, 2021
There were no demons in the pitch when India played so the target in the first T20I was well within Sri Lanka’s reach. Avishka Fernando once again got going in the powerplay. At the other end, Bhanuka struggled before he was put out of his misery by Krunal Pandya. Yuzvendra Chahal then nipped out Dhananjaya de Silva with a beauty.
The Lankans were in trouble but an inspired showing from debutant Charith Asalanka pushed them in the middle overs. They kept up with the required rate with Asalanka taking Hardik Pandya to the cleaners. Pandya had another off day, which does not spell good for Team India. Nevertheless, a game-changing over from Deepak Chahar where he knocked over the set Asalanka and Wanindu Hasaranga tilted the scales in India’s favor.
Sri Lanka then capitulated rather spectacularly, losing their last six wickets for 15 runs. Bhuvneshwar Kumar was the pick of the bowlers with 4/22, picking up three wickets in the death overs – something he hadn’t done since August 2019. It was a good outing for India and will hope to repeat the performance in the next game against Sri Lanka.
