India Beat Sri Lanka by 62 Runs, Extend T20I Winning Streak to 10 Matches

India beat Sri Lanka by 62 runs in the T20I series-opener on Thursday. 

(Photo: BCCI)

• India beat Sri Lanka by 62 runs in the T20I series-opener on Thursday in Lucknow.

• India 199/2 in 20 overs (Ishan Kishan 89, Shreyas Iyer 57 not out; Dasun Shanaka 1/19, Lahiru Kumara 1/43)

• Sri Lanka 137/6 in 20 overs (Charith Asalanka 53 not out, Dushmantha Chameera 24 not out; Bhuvneshwar Kumar 2/9, Venkatesh Iyer 2/36)

Ishan Kishan's blistering 89 off 56 and Shreyas Iyer's unbeaten 57 set the tone for the Indian team in the T20I series-opener on Thursday as the hosts beat Sri Lanka by 62 runs at Lucknow's Bharat Ratna Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ekana Cricket Stadium.

In a win where only Ravindra Jadeja completed his quota of four overs, the pitch slowed down in the second innings. For Sri Lanka, the dew didn't come to their rescue as the visitors eventually finished their 20 overs at 137/6.

India have now extended their winning streak in T20Is to ten matches.

Rohit Sharma after the first T20I between India and Sri Lanka held at the Bharat Ratna Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ekana Cricket Stadium.

(Photo: BCCI)

During the Sri Lankan chase, India struck with a wicket on the very first ball as Pathum Nissanka played on to his stumps off Bhuvneshwar Kumar. The ball kept low and Nissanka, in a bid to defend, didn't realise that the ball rolled on to hit the stumps. Kamil Mishara struck some boundaries and was even dropped by Venkatesh Iyer at mid-wicket. But two balls later, Kumar got Mishara to miscue a slog straight to mid-wicket.

Janith Liyanage's struggling time at the crease came to an end when he tried to pull from outside the off-stump and got a top-edge flying to point. Ravindra Jadeja, returning from an injury lay-off, shortened his length and got one to turn and bounce away from an advancing Dinesh Chandimal, resulting in an easy stumping for Ishan Kishan.

Sri Lanka's free fall continued as Dasun Shanaka reverse-swept straight to point off Chahal. Shanaka's dismissal made Chahal the leading wicket-taker for India in T20Is.

Chamika Karunaratne hit two sixes but gave a thick edge behind to Kishan off Iyer.

Charith Asalanka was the lone ranger for Sri Lanka while Dushmantha Chameera took a six and two fours off Iyer to showcase his batting skills. Asalanka reached his fifty off 43 balls with a flick through mid-wicket and that was the lone bright spot for Sri Lanka in the series opener.

Bhuvneshwar Kumar of India celebrates the wicket of Pathum Nissanka of Sri Lanka.

(Photo: BCCI)

Earlier, Sri Lanka had won the toss and elected to put India into bat first.

Ishan Kishan, who didn't have a great time against the West Indies, toyed with the Sri Lanka bowlers and mixed fluency with dismissive shots to reach his highest T20I score. Iyer, on the other hand, stepped up in the last three overs to provide a great finish to India's innings after being pushed into batting first.

Captain Rohit Sharma began with a clip through the on-side before going into sedate mode. His partner, Kishan, got enough width from Chamika Karunaratne to smash three boundaries in the arc between cover and third man in the third over to get India up and running.

Kishan continued to smash a flurry of boundaries off Lahiru Kumara, Praveen Jayawickrama and Dushmantha Chameera in the next three overs for India to be 58/0 at the end of power-play. Post power-play, Kishan crashed a wide googly from Jeffrey Vandersay through cover. On the very next ball, Kishan was deceived by a wrong'un, only for Janith Liyanage to spill a forward diving chance at deep mid-wicket.

Rohit Sharma congratulates Ishan Kishan on his half century in the T20I series-opener vs Sri Lanka.

(Photo: BCCI)

Sharma cracked some boundaries while Kishan marched his way to reaching his second T20I fifty. Sri Lanka finally had a breakthrough in the 12th over when his slower delivery kept low and went past Sharma's attempted slog to hit the off-stump.

Post Sharma's wicket, India's scoring went slow but Kishan broke the shackles in the 16th over by Kumara. Kishan was quick in dispatching the slower delivery over long-on, followed by hammering back-to-back fours through point and mid-wicket.

But in the next over, Kishan departed for 89, top-edging a pull off a slower delivery from Shanaka to deep mid-wicket. Iyer timed his flicks sweetly before hammering Karunaratne over long-on for a big six, followed by collecting fours twice through short third man.

In the final over, Iyer again launched a six over long-on and them brought up his fifty off just 25 balls with a flick through square leg. Iyer was decisive in India collecting 69 runs off the last five overs.

(With inputs from IANS)