SL vs India, 1st T20I: Bowlers hand India a comfortable victory

Having put the opposition to bat, you can’t have a better start than a wicket off the first ball. But when the opponent is so mighty with an endless list of leather hunters, a wicket off the first ball is not always enough.

That was the case for Sri Lanka in the first T20I.

They got rid of Prithvi Shaw on the first delivery but with a heavy batting line-up, India nullified the host’s advantage before the end of the powerplay. Captain Shikhar Dhawan and Sanju Samson, who batted at number three, played like T20s demand players to – no time to think, wait for the storm to pass and then proceed. The players walked into the storm with an equally dominating approach, bringing up the fifty in the powerplay.

After Samson’s departure came in the hero of the tour Suryakumar Yadav, and started from where he had left in the ODI series. Read the field well and targeted the bowlers accordingly to never let the run-rate dip. With the rain failing down, Dhawan started to force the proceedings and departed. Sri Lankans pulled things a bit at the end with some fiery bowling from Dushmantha Chameera, restricting India to 164/5 after they were looking good to cross 175.

Sri Lanka in reply were quick off the blocks. But India kept pulling them back whenever a batsman threatened to take the game close. What made things difficult for them was how Deepak Chahar and Bhuvneshwar Kumar bowled in their second spells. Chahar bagged 2 wickets for 24, while Bhuvi was exceptional with a four-fer. Sri Lanka lost their last six wickets for just 15 runs and bundled on 126 inside 19 overs, handing India a comfortable 38 run victory.

While T20Is continue to give the impression of being a game of muscles where big hitters dominate, Indian bowlers once again proved that it’s the smart bowling, particularly during the death, that seals the deal for teams.

On current form, Team India look well poised to seal the series with a game to spare.