India took a 1-0 lead with a 62-run win over Sri Lanka in the first T20I of the three-match series, at the Bharat Ratna Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ekana Cricket Stadium in Lucknow. A dominating batting performance by India saw them pile 199/2. Sri Lanka then lost a wicket first ball, and were never in the hunt thereafter.
Earlier, Sri Lankan captain Dasun Shanaka won the toss and decided to bowl. They made two changes to their XI from their last match in Australia, bringing in Dinesh Chandimal and Jeffrey Vandersay. India, on the other hand, made six changes, including uncapped Deepak Hooda. A wrist injury forced Ruturaj Gaikwad to miss the match.
Rohit Sharma and Ishan Kishan began watchfully before Kishan hit three consecutive fours in the third over, off Chamika Karunaratne. Kishan kept playing his shots, and hit his first six off Lahiru Kumara in the next over. India reached 50 in the Powerplay, of which Kishan contributed 31 and Rohit just 17. Rohit then joined the blast, and India raced to 98/0 in 10 overs. By then, Kishan also completed his fifty in just 30 balls.
Rohit fell to Kumara for 44, with the total on 111. Shreyas Iyer then settled into a supporting role to Kishan. There was a phase in the 14th and 15th oversm when Kishan lost his touch and played six dot balls in two overs, but he recovered to hit a six and two fours in the 16th over. He fell for a 56-ball 89 in the 17th over.
India added 44 runs in the last three overs, of which only three runs came from No. 4 Ravindra Jadeja. Shreyas reached his fifty in 25 balls, and hit five fours and two sixes in his 28-ball 57 not out as India finished on 199/2.
Bhuvneshwar Kumar then snared Pathum Nissanka on the first ball of the innings, and added another wicket in his second. After he took 2-9 in his first two overs, Rohit did not bring him back as India tried seven bowlers, including six overs from Venkatesh Iyer and Deepak Hooda.
Venkatesh bowled as early as in the seventh over, and almost immediately claimed Janith Liyanage for a 17-ball 11. The Indian spinners, Jadeja and Yuzvendra Chahal, picked up the next two wickets as Sri Lanka slumped to 60/5 in the 11th over.
Charith Asalanka (53*) and Chamika Karunaratne then added 37. Karunaratne got a 14-ball 21 with two sixes before becoming the second wicket of his future IPL teammate, Venkatesh Iyer. Asalanka and Dushmantha Chameera added an unbroken 40-run stand in the last 4.2 overs, but by then the match was almost over.
This was India’s 10th consecutive T20I win. They are now behind only Afghanistan and Romania, both of whom have 12-match winning streaks (Afghanistan have a separate 11-match streak as well).
India 199/2 in 20 overs (Ishan Kishan 89; Dasun Shanaka 1-19) beat Sri Lanka 137/6 in 20 overs (Charith Asalanka 53*; Bhuvneshwar Kumar 2-9) by 62 runs. Player of the Match: Ishan Kishan.