IND vs SL: How Did India Completely Rout Sri Lanka In The First T20I?

India vs Sri Lanka: India dominated the tourists Sri Lanka in all the departments of the game in the 1st T20I and registered a win by 62 runs. India registered their 10th consecutive win in T20Is and continued their dominance at home under new full-time skipper Rohit Sharma.

Let's take a look at how India managed to defeat Sri Lanka in all departments and register a comfortable win. Firstly, Rohit Sharma lost the toss and was put in to bat first. However, the Indian team which was famed for chasing down targets instead of defending managed to pull off a win batting first again. 

On the pitch at Ekana Stadium, Lucknow offered little to no bounce which troubled the batters at the very start of the innings. However, Ishan Kishan targetted Chamika Karunaratne as Sri Lanka made their first bowling change and smashed 3 fours in the over. Kishan was going through a rough patch in the T20I series against West Indie, but came back strongly in the 1st T20I against Sri Lanka and smashed 89 runs off 56 balls with 10 fours and 3 sixes. 

The opening duo of Rohit Sharma and Ishan Kishan managed to stand strong in the powerplay as India scored 58/0 in 6 overs. Six out of seven boundaries in the powerplay were smacked by Ishan Kishan. Rohit Sharma was playing a more responsible role as he rotated the strike to keep in form Kishan on strike. Sharma scored 44 off 32 balls with 2 fours before he was done by lack of bounce as Lahiru Kumara clean bowled the Indian skipper in the 12th over. However, team India already had scored 111 runs till then and were in the driving seat with explosive Kishan still on the crease. 

In the absence of former captain Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, who had to sit out in the first T20Is against West Indies, made the most out of this opportunity at #3 as he scored a thunderous fifty. Iyer started slow and was batting at 11 runs in 10 balls at the end of the 16th over.

However, after that, the 27-year-old exploded as played an unbeaten knock of 57 runs in 28 balls with 5 fours and 2 sixes. Shreyas in his approach reminded us of India's legendary captain MS Dhoni, who similarly used to take the game deep and then explode at the end. Not only did Iyer prove his skills as the #3 batter when he came on to bat, but he also acted as a pure finisher in the death overs as Kishan fell victim to Sri Lankan captain Dasun Shanaka in the 17th over. 

India posted a total of 199/2 in 20 overs, and Bhuvneshwar Kumar who has been having a mixed form of late, struck on the very first delivery of the Sri Lankan innings as the 32-year-old Indian bowler clean bowled Pathum Nissanka for a golden duck. Rohit Sharma was dynamic with his bowling changes and used 4 bowlers in the powerplay.

Bhuvneshwar bowled the 1st and 3rd over and managed to pick up a wicket in each of them, giving away just 9 runs. Jasprit Bumrah didn't look his usual self with the ball and this may be because Sri Lankan batters were playing the Indian vice-captain cautiously. Captain Rohit inflicted bowling changes with accuracy and Ravindra Jadeja was the only bowler to bowl a full quota of 4 overs, as he was returning from an injury and would have needed to open his arms. The ace-all rounder also managed to get a wicket in the form of Dinesh Chandimal in his second over, assisted by the turn provided by the pitch which Jaddu exploited well. 

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Sri Lanka were ultimately restricted to 137/6 at the end of 20 overs as India won the first match by 62 runs. India will face Sri Lanka in the 2nd T20I on February 26th (Saturday) at Dharamsala and will look to win the match and seal the series with an unassailable lead of 2-0.