Lucknow, Feb 24 (UNI) India took a 1-0 lead with a thumping 62-run victory over Sri Lanka in the first of the three-match T20 International series at the Ekana Stadium here on Thursday. Sri Lanka suffered an early blow while chasing a challenging 200-run target. Bhuvneshwar Kumar struck on the very first ball of the innings and bowled Pathum Nissanka. The pacer didn’t stop and went onto bag his second wicket in the third over, dismissing Kamil Mishara (13). Venkatesh Iyer also collected two wickets to further dent Sri Lanka’s chase and made it a one-sided match. Ravindra Jadeja, who returned to the side after recovering from a forearm injury, took a little while to get back into his rhythm. The left-arm spinner joined the party as he removed Dinesh Chandimal (10). Yuzvendra Chahal went past Jasprit Bumrah to become India’s leading wicket-taker in the shortest format. Heading into the match both were tied on 66 wickets each.
Sri Lanka skipper Dasun Shanaka (3) tried to go for a reverse sweep but ended up giving an easy catch to Bhuvneshwar at backward point. Charith Asalanka, the lone warrior for Sri Lanka, registered a half-century in his side’s lost cause. The left-hander remained unbeaten on 53 along with Dushmantha Chameera (24 not out) as India restricted Sri Lanka to 137/6. Earlier, Ishan Kishan’s knock of 89 off 56 balls powered India to post 199/2 after being put into bat first. Kishan and skipper Rohit Sharma stitched a solid 111-run opening partnership. The wicketkeeper-batter looked in great form as he fired three back-to-back boundaries and soon reached his fifty off 30 balls. Rohit dispatched spinner Jeffrey Vandersay for a maximum into the stands at deep mid-wicket, becoming India’s leading run-getter in the shortest format. The skipper surpassed Virat Kohli, who has 3296 runs from 89 innings, in his 115th innings.
KL Rahul is third on the elite list with 1831 runs from 52 innings. Sri Lanka finally pulled one back when Lahiru Kumara knocked over Rohit with a slower ball and the Indian skipper returned to the dugout for 44. Kishan missed out on a well-deserved century as Dasun Shanaka removed him in 17th over. Towards the end, Shreyas Iyer’s 28-ball 57 not out further piled misery on Sri Lankan bowlers. Chamika Karunaratne and Dushmantha Chameera conceded 18 and 16 runs respectively in the final two overs.
Brief scores: India 199/2 in 20 overs (Ishan Kishan 89, Shreyas Iyer 57 not out; Dasun Shanaka 1/19) beat Sri Lanka 137/6 in 20 overs (Charith Asalanka 53 not out; Bhuvneshwar Kumar 2/9, Venkatesh Iyer 2/36) by 62 runs.