Cricket Highlights: 6 Things To Know About India In Thrilling T20 Match

India overcome Sri Lanka in the opening T20I of the series held at the Wankhede Stadium, thanks to a Shivam Mavi masterclass. This article lists 6 Cricket Match Highlights about T20 India VS Sri Lanka.

Sri Lanka's captain Dasun Shanaka won the toss and elected to bowl first. Sri Lanka landed early strikes against India to leave them struggling at 94/5. However, a quality sixth-wicket partnership between Deepak Hooda and Axar Patel ensured the hosts got to 162 runs after 20 overs.

Sri Lanka tried till the end, thanks to their late order. But they were eventually bowled out for 160 runs in 20 overs.

Pandya's men take a 1-0 lead in the three-match T20 series, with the second match to be played on January 5. Deepak Hooda was named the player of the match due to his fantastic knock of 41.

Ind vs Sri Cricket Highlights 1: India's Top Order Disappoints

A lot was expected from India's top order in the first T20 match against Sri Lanka. Despite the strong start, the wickets continued to tumble at regular intervals. Shubman Gill left the crease after the opening stand of 27.

Surya Kumar Yadav came onto the crease with a lot of expectations. However, the World No.1 batsman looked out of touch today as he scored only 7 off 10 balls. The 32-year-old tried to go with his trademark scoop shot but ended up sending the ball to short fine.

Another batsman who disappointed the Indian faithful was Sanju Samson. With Rishabh Pant out of the series due to an unfortunate accident and Dinesh Karthik in the twilight of his career, the 28-year-old had a huge chance to claim his spot on the international side.

However, the Rajasthan Royals wicketkeeper only scored 5 off 6 balls. Shortly after Samson's dismissal, Ishan Kishan also went back to the pavilion after scoring a solid 37.

The T20 series has many high-profile Indian batsmen missing, such as KL Rahul, Rohit Sharma, and Virat Kohli. If the top-order continues to struggle like this, you would only question whether India would trust their experienced players again.

Ind vs Sri Cricket Highlights 2: Sri Lankan Spinners Dominate

As you would come to expect from Sri Lanka, their spin department once again performed remarkably. Wanindu Hasaranga and Maheesh Theekshana shined for the Asian champions as they managed to control the Indian batting in the middle overs.

Both the spinners only conceded 51 runs from their 8 overs and took a wicket each. Dhananjaya de Silva also chipped in with one over, in which he removed Samson.

If the Sri Lankan fast bowlers were as good as their spinners, they could have restricted India below 150.

The spin attack has been one of the strengths of Sri Lanka for the past 12 months. It was a catalyst in their Asia Cup win in UAE last year. With the upcoming World Cup taking place in similar conditions, you wonder whether Sri Lanka can be considered a dark horse in this event or not.

Ind vs Sri Cricket Highlights 3: India' Player Deepak Hooda Shines

As the Indians were going nowhere in their batting innings, Hooda stood up to be counted.

The right-handed batsman attacked the Sri Lankan attack by hitting consecutive sixes off Theekshana. He also landed heavy blows to Hasaranga and Kasun Rajitha, respectively.

The 27-year-old scored 41 runs off 23 balls, with one four and four sixes. He was heavily supported by Patel, who contributed with 31 runs off 20 balls. The pair added 68 runs for the sixth wicket to take India to a decent total.

Ind vs Sri Cricket Highlights 4: Sri Lanka's Top-Order Collapse

Just like India's top order, Sri Lanka's top order didn't live up to the expectations. Shivam Mavi was magnificent in the early overs as he removed Pathum Nissanka and de Silva, respectively.

Charith Asalanka and wicketkeeper Kusal Mendis tried to reorganize the innings. However, they soon departed with the visitors struggling at 51 for 4 in eight overs. Rajapaska also didn't make any meaningful contribution, as he scored only 10 runs.

Ind vs Sri Cricket Highlights 5: Sri Lanka's Lower Order Resurgence

Just like India's sixth-wicket partnership, Sri Lanka had to rely on their captain Shanaka and Hasaranga to put them back on track.

The Sri Lankan captain started the assault by taking on Patel in the 12th over. The pair also managed to snatch 10 runs from the over of Malik in the 13th over.

The Asia Cup champions were firmly back in the contest when Hasaranga smashed Chahal for consecutive sixes.

In the last six overs, the visitors needed 56 runs. The decisive moment came in the 15th over when Hasaranga was caught by Pandya. Hasaranga scored 21 runs off 10 balls, including one four and two sixes.

Shanaka carried on the assault as he smashed Harshal Patel for a four and a six. The Sri Lankan captain thrashed Malik for a six over deep backward square leg.

The 23-year-old responded instantly by getting the scalp of the 31-year-old two balls later. When Shanaka left the crease, it looked like India were going to coast to a comfortable win.

However, Karunaratne had other ideas. In the last over, 13 runs were required. Karunaratne smashed Patel for a six over cow corner, bringing the equation down to five runs off three balls.

India eventually held their nerve in the end as the 26-year-old simply couldn't get any of the last three balls away to the boundary.

Ind vs Sri Cricket Highlights 6: A new Era Of India In Limited-Overs Cricket?

After a lopsided defeat against England in the World T20, many people questioned Sharma and whether he should retire from the T20 format.

With the captaincy shown by Pandya in the series against New Zealand and this game, it will only add fuel to this debate.

Moreover, we have seen the likes of Mohammad Shami, Jasprit Bumrah, Ravichandran Ashwin, and Bhuvaneshwar Kumar carry the Indian fast bowling line-up.

Looking at the performance of the Indian fast bowlers recently, can we finally say that India have found their new bowling setup?

Malik is finally living up to the hype as he has carried his fantastic IPL performances into the matches for the international team. Secondly, Harshal and Axar have also shown that they can do a job whenever required by the captain.

As Arshdeep Singh missed the game due to illness, his return will only help Pandya's men in the bowling department going into this year's World Cup.

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