India outplayed Sri Lanka by 38 runs in the opening T20 International at the R Premadasa Stadium on Sunday night, taking a 1-0 lead in the series. A superb half-century by the in-form Suryakumar Yadav (50) and a 46-run knock by skipper Shikhar Dhawan helped India put up 164 for five as Sri Lanka put in a decent performance with the ball after electing to field first.
However, a shoddy performance by the bat, except Charith Asalanka, who smashed a quickfire 44 on his debut, saw the hosts crash to 126 all out in the 19th over. Asalanka showed some fight as he struck a few big blows, but once paceman Deepak Chahar had him caught at deep mid wicket and then castled Wanindu Hasaranga in a double-strike in the 16th over, India had the game in the bag.
While Bhuvneshwar Kumar picked four for 22, the pick of the Indian bowlers was leg-spinner Yuzuvendra Chahal, who bowled 10 dot balls while giving away just 19 runs in four overs. The way he castled a bamboozled Dhananjaya de Silva with a ‘jaffa,’ which pitched near leg stump but went on to kiss the off stump, was excellent, displaying the high quality of this world-class bowler.
As expected, India gave a maiden international cap to ‘mystery spinner’ Varun Chakravarthy, who showed a bit of promise while taking one for 28 in four overs. Earlier, pacer Dushmantha Chameera and leg-spinner Wanindu Hasaranga bowled superbly, taking two wickets each as Lanka took the pace off the ball in damp conditions to keep India in check.
2nd T20I postponed
The second T20 international match between Sri Lanka vs India at Colombo on Tuesday has been postponed after India all-rounder Krunal Pandya tested positive for coronavirus. In a statement, the BCCI said that following the Rapid Antigen Tests conducted ahead of the match on Tuesday morning, Pandya was found to be positive. The medical teams have identified eight members as close contacts. The entire contingent is undergoing RT-PCR tests to ascertain any further outbreak in the squad. The match will now be played on Wednesday (July 28).
Lanka beat India in 3rd ODI
Sri Lanka beat India by three wickets in the third and final one-dayer to lose the series 1-2. Chasing 227 for a win under D/L calculations, Sri Lanka reached the target with 48 balls to spare. They reached 227 for 7 in 39 overs. Opener Avishka Fernando topscored with 76 while one-down Bhanuka Rajapaksa contributed a 56-ball 65 to help Sri Lanka script the win.
For India, Rahul Chahar was the most successful bowler with three wickets for 54 runs. The match was reduced to a 47-over-a-side affair after rain interruption in the first innings. Opting to bat, India were all out for 225 in 43.1 overs.
