INDIA ALL THE WAY
Leg-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal claimed four wickets as India beat Sri Lanka by 93 runs in the opening Twenty20 international in Cuttack on Wednesday.
Chahal returned impressive figures of 4-23 to help dismiss Sri Lanka for 87, in 16 overs, while chasing 181 as the hosts took a 1-0 lead in the three-match series.
Earlier, a combined batting effort helped India score 180/3. Opener Lokesh Rahul (61) played sensibly at the top order before Mahendra Singh Dhoni (39 not out) and Manish Pandey (32 not out) finished off the proceedings in style. From 112/3, Dhoni and Pandey built the innings and piloted India to a decent score.
Put in to bat, India started off on a good note as openers Rohit Sharma (17) and Rahul added 38 runs in five overs before Rohit mistimed a short to mid-on off Angelo Mathews. In his 13 ball innings, the Mumbai batsman, who became the second Indian after Virat Kohli to complete 1500 runs, managed to hit only two boundaries.
Incoming batsmen Shreyas Iyer (24) then joined Rahul in the middle and the duo forged 74-run partnership to help their team to cross 100-run mark without losing any wickets.
Just when things seemed good in the middle, Iyer was dismissed Nuwan Pradeep in the 13th over when the scoreboard was reading 112. Iyer played 20 balls and slammed three boundaries.
After adding few more runs with new batsmen Dhoni, Rahul was also sent packing in the 15th over by Thisara Perera. While trying to hit the boundary, Rahul completely missed and ball went on to hit the stumps. His 48ball innings comprised off seven boundaries and one six.
The fall of Rahul’s wicket brought in Pandey. Pandey and Dhoni played sensibly and punished the bad balls. Soon, India crossed 150 run mark in the 19th over.
The last few deliveries saw some powerhitting from both the batsmen especially from the Pandey. Dhoni also displayed some shots and finally closed Indian innings with a six.
For Sri Lanka, Mathews, Pradeep and Perera chipped in with one wicket each. —