An all-round effort with ball, followed by half-centuries of Shikhar Dhawan and Ishan Kishan, helped India thrash hosts Sri Lanka by seven wickets in the first ODI of the three-match series at the R Premadasa Stadium, on Sunday, 18 July 18. With this clinical performance in the series opener, the Indians must have satisfied Arjuna Ranatunga, who had called them ‘second-string squad’ ahead of the tour.
Chasing a target of 263 set by Sri Lanka, who chose to bat first after winning the toss, Dhawan led from the front with an unbeaten 86 in 95 balls, while Kishan blasted 59 off 42 on debut. They kept things under control after the a blazing start from Prithvi Shaw, who was adjudged Player of the Match for his 24-ball 43.
Another debutant, Suryakumar Yadav, showed a glimpse of his talent with a quickfire 31 in 20 balls, which helped India finish the game with 13.2 overs to spare.
Dhawan might have top-scored, but the highlight of the Indian innings was the strokeplay of Shaw and Kishan, whose no-holds-barred approach made the chase the feel of a T20 World Cup audition. While Shaw was making a comeback, Kishan was making his debut – and yet, there was no sign of nerves from either. And nothing epitomised this more than Kishan’s first ball down the track for six, much like his T20I debut.
The Sri Lankan bowlers looked clueless against the onslaught. Dhananjaya de Silva took the wickets of Shaw and Manish Pandey, but gave away 49 runs in his 5 overs. The other wicket-taker for them was Lakshan Sandakan, who bowled with better control than his colleagues and foxed Kishan to play a false shot.
Earlier, India restricted the Sri Lankans to 262/9, thanks to some good work from Deepak Chahar (2-37), Yuzvendra Chahal (2-52), and Kuldeep Yadav (2-48). Chamika Karunaratne was the top scorer for Sri Lanka with an unbeaten 43. A lot of players got into double figures but could not post a big score.
The second 50-over encounter of the series will be played on Tuesday, 20 July.
Brief scores: Sri Lanka 262/9 in 50 overs (Chamika Karunaratne 43*; Deepak Chahar 2-37) lost to India 263/3 in 36.4 overs (Shikhar Dhawan 86*; Dhananjaya de Silva 2-49) by 7 wickets with 80 balls to spare. Player of the Match: Prithvi Shaw.