Ind v SL 1st T20: Shreyas and Ishan's Half Centuries Help India Post 199/2
India have made six changes to the line-up that faced West Indies last week.
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Half centuries by Shreyas Iyer and Ishan Kishan have propelled India to 199/2 in their 20 overs against Sri Lanka in the T20I series-opener against Sri Lanka at the Bharat Ratna Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ekana Cricket Stadium on Thursday.
Kishan, who didn't have a great time against the West Indies, toyed with the Sri Lanka bowlers and mixed fluency with dismissive shots to reach his highest T20I score. Iyer, on the other hand, stepped up in the last three overs to provide a great finish to India's innings after being pushed into batting first.
Captain Rohit Sharma began with a clip through the on-side before going into sedate mode. His partner, Kishan, got enough width from Chamika Karunaratne to smash three boundaries in the arc between cover and third man in the third over to get India up and running.
Rohit Sharma is bowled out by Lahiru Kumara.
(Photo: BCCI)
Kishan continued to smash a flurry of boundaries off Lahiru Kumara, Praveen Jayawickrama and Dushmantha Chameera in the next three overs for India to be 58/0 at the end of power-play. Post power-play, Kishan crashed a wide googly from Jeffrey Vandersay through cover. On the very next ball, Kishan was deceived by a wrong'un, only for Janith Liyanage to spill a forward diving chance at deep mid-wicket.
Sharma cracked some boundaries while Kishan marched his way to reaching his second T20I fifty. Sri Lanka finally had a breakthrough in the 12th over when his slower delivery kept low and went past Sharma's attempted slog to hit the off-stump.
Post Sharma's fall, India's scoring went slow but Kishan broke the shackles in the 16th over by Kumara. Kishan was quick in dispatching the slower delivery over long-on, followed by hammering back-to-back fours through point and mid-wicket.
But in the next over, Kishan departed for 89, top-edging a pull off a slower delivery from Shanaka to deep mid-wicket. Iyer timed his flicks sweetly before hammering Karunaratne over long-on for a big six, followed by collecting fours twice through short third man.
In the final over, Iyer again launched a six over long-on and them brought up his fifty off just 25 balls with a flick through square leg. Iyer was decisive in India collecting 69 runs off the last five overs.
Earlier, Sri Lanka captain Dasun Shanaka won the toss and elected to bowl first.
"We want to back our strength, it was a tough tour of Australia, but we could have won a few more games," said Shanaka after winning the toss. He added that Dinesh Chandimal and Jeffrey Vandersay come in for injured duo of Maheesh Theekshana and Kusal Mendis.
India skipper Rohit Sharma said Sanju Samson, Jasprit Bumrah, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Yuzvendra Chahal and Ravindra Jadeja come into the playing eleven while Deepak Hooda makes his T20I debut. He added that Ruturaj Gaikwad was unavailable for selection due to a wrist issue.
"We were looking to chase as well, not sure how the pitches in India plays. But we now know we need to bat well, the last time we played here, about 4 years back, the pitch played well. Nothing changes as far as the goals of the team are concerned, need to do the right things as a team, need to keep ticking all the right boxes," stated Sharma.
Playing XIs
India: Rohit Sharma (captain), Ishan Kishan (wicket-keeper), Shreyas Iyer, Sanju Samson, Deepak Hooda, Ravindra Jadeja, Venkatesh Iyer, Harshal Patel, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Jasprit Bumrah and Yuzvendra Chahal
Sri Lanka: Pathum Nissanka, Kamil Mishara, Charith Asalanka, Dinesh Chandimal (wicket-keeper), Janith Liyanage, Dasun Shanaka (captain), Chamika Karunaratne, Jeffrey Vandersay, Praveen Jayawickrama, Dushmantha Chameera and Lahiru Kumara
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