Batsmen couldn’t quite give the necessary momentum in the first half, but the bowlers made fine use of the Premadasa conditions as India registered a comfortable 38-run win against Sri Lanka in the first T20I of the three-match series in Colombo on Sunday.
Put in to bat, India lost T20I debutant Prithvi Shaw off the first ball of the game, but good knocks from Suryakumar Yadav (50) and captain Shikhar Dhawan (46) helped them post a competitive 164/5 on a track that seemed to be getting slower as the game progressed.
Thereafter, the bowlers took the pace off the ball and used the slower delivery better than their rivals, bowling Sri Lanka out for 126 with nine balls to spare. Bhuvneshwar Kumar was the pick of the Indian bowlers taking 4/22 in 3.3 overs, while Deepak Chahar too continued with his impressive showing, striking twice.
The biggest positive in terms of India’s bowling was each of the bowlers taking wickets. But, it must also be said that Sri Lanka’s batting was mediocre to say the least.
Brief scores: India 164/5 in 20 ovs (S. Yadav 50, W. Hasaranga 2/28). Sri Lanka 126 in 18.3 ovs (C. Asalanka 44; B. Kumar 4/22, D. Chahar 2/24). India won by 38 runs.
