Ishan, Shreyas set up 10th consecutive T20I win for India

Ishan Kishan and Shreyas Iyer starred with the bat as India comfortably strolled to a victory against Sri Lanka in the opening T20I in Lucknow. India didn’t even have to bowl at full throttle after posting 199/2 with the bat as the visitors put up a shoddy performance to lose by 62 runs.

While India’s openers got off to a flying start scoring 58 in the powerplay, Sri Lanka’s opening pair were back in the hut by the end of the third over. Pathum Nissanka, unfortunately, dragged one onto his stumps first ball in the run chase and Kamil Mishara played an ugly slot to get caught by Rohit Sharma at midwicket as he failed to make the most of the reprieve he had received earlier in the over. Bhuvneshwar Kumar’s double strike had pretty much signalled the end for Sri Lanka as they ended up making only in the powerplay.

Their opposition though were on a different gear to begin proceedings. Rohit and Ishan were on the money in the powerplay with the younger batter taking the lead. Ishan didn’t let his dull returns against West Indies affect him one bit as he brought out some extravagant strokes to race into the 40s in the powerplay. He did receive a reprieve and made the most of it by getting to his half-century.

Rohit, who was batting on 19 off 17 at one stage, switched gears to take on the spinners as the openers 98 at the halfway mark. 200 appeared like a certainty at that stage but Sri Lanka did bowl well to pull things back. The seamers constantly took the pace off the ball with the wicket keeping a bit low at one end. Rohit was bowled by Lahiru Kumara for 44 and Ishan looked exhausted having run a lot on a ground where the boundaries were large. Sending Shreyas at number 3 with just eight overs left in the innings didn’t appear like a smart choice at that point in time as the batsman struggled to get going from the outset.

Just 32 runs came in a five-over spell for India as 200 suddenly appeared like a distant dream. However, Ishan injected some momentum again to race into the 80s before falling for 89 and Shreyas at the other end underwent a terrific transformation to set India back on track again. The returning Ravindra Jadeja was content on watching the action unfold from the non-striker’s end as Shreyas ripped the attack to shreds to reach his half-century off just 25 deliveries. At one stage, he was batting on 12 off 12. The swashbuckling fifty meant India eventually set Sri Lanka a target of 200 that proved to be way beyond their reach.

The moment Sri Lanka motored their way to 29/2 in the powerplay, the result was a foregone conclusion. In the very next over after the powerplay, Venkatesh Iyer ended Janith Liyanage’s misery as he departed for a 17-ball 11 while Jadeja got his revenge over Dinesh Chandimal by having him stumped. Yuzvendra Chahal too got into the act as Sri Lanka’s final hope – their skipper Dasun Shanaka – found the fielder at backward point while attempting a reverse sweep. Charith Asalanka’s 43-ball fifty, which posed no threat to the hosts, was the only highlight for the Sri Lankans on the night.

Brief scores:

India

199/2 in 20 overs (Ishan Kishan 89, Shreyas Iyer 57*, Rohit Sharma 44; Dasun Shanaka 1/19) beat Sri Lanka 137/6 in 20 overs (Charith Asalanka 53*; Bhuvneshwar Kumar 2/9, Venkatesh Iyer 2/36) by 62 runs

(Cricbuzz)