Ishan, Shreyas blitzkrieg: Kishan, S Iyer sizzle in India’s crushing 62-run win over SL in 1st T20

NT Correspondent

I shan Kishan gave a glimpse of his enormous potential with a 56-ball-89 before the bowlers joined the party in India’s clinical 62-run demolition of Sri Lanka in the first T20I to take a 1-0 lead in the three-game series here on Thursday.

This was also India’s longest winning streak in T20Is which has now gone up to 10 matches.

Asked to take first strike, Kishan was unstoppable at the top as he blasted a blistering 56-ball 89, while Shreyas Iyer provided the late charge with an unbeaten 57 as India racked up a massive 199 for 2.

The Indian bowlers, led by Bhuveshwar Kumar (2/9 in 2 overs) and Venkatesh Iyer (2/36), then provided the finishing touch, limiting Sri Lanka to 137 for 6 in 20 overs.

Yuzvendra Chahal (1/11) and Ravindra Jadeja (1/28) also claimed one wicket each. The victory extended India’s winning streak to 10 T20 games. For Sri Lanka, Charith Asalanka regained some confidence with an unbeaten 47-ball 53 but he didn’t get any support from the other batters.

India’s fielding was not up to the mark with ventakesh Iyer and Shreyas Iyer spilling chances off Kamila and Charith Asalanka in 3rd and 6th overs respectively but it didn’t matter as the Lankan batters couldn’t use the chances.

Ventakesh got rid of Janith Liyanage (11), while comeback man Ravindra Jadeja had Dinesh Chandimal (10) stumped in the 10th over as Sri Lanka were down 51 for 4 in 10th over.

Kishan, who failed to capitalise on his starts in the preceding white-ball series against West Indies, finally lived up to his multi-million dollar IPL tag with a whirlwind innings studded with 10 hits to the fence and three sixes.

The 23-year-old from Jharkhand forged a 111-run innings for the opening wicket with his skipper Rohit Sharma (44 off 32) to put India on course for a formidable total after being invited to bat first.

Iyer then grabbed the opportunity with both hands, smashing five fours and two sixes in 28 balls to take India to a huge total.

(With inputs from agencies)

Scorecard:
INDIA Innings:
Rohit Sharma b Kumara 44
Ishan Kishan c Liyanage b Shanaka 89
Shreyas Iyer not out 57
Ravindra Jadeja not out 3
Extras: (w 6) 6

Total: (20 Ov, RR: 9.95) 199/2
Fall of wickets: 1-111, 2-155
Bowling: Chameera 4-0-42-0 , Lahiru Kumara 4-0-43-1, Karunaratne 4-0-46-0, Jayawickrama 2-0-15-0, Jeff rey Vandersay 4-0-34-0, Dasun Shanaka 2-0-19-1

SRI LANKA Innings:
Pathum Nissanka b Kumar 0
Kamil Mishara c Sharma b Kumar 13
Janith Liyanage c Samson b VR Iyer 11
Charith Asalanka not out 53
Chandimal  st Ishan Kishan b Jadeja 10
Dasun Shanaka c Kumar b Chahal 3
Karunaratne c st Ishan Kishan b VR Iyer 21
Dushmantha Chameera not out 24
Extras: (w 2) 2

Total: (20 Ov, RR: 6.85) 137/6
Fall of wickets: 1-0, 2-15, 3-36, 4-51, 5-60, 6-97
Bowling: Bhuvneshwar Kumar 2-0-9-2, Jasprit Bumrah 3-0-19-0, Harshal Patel 2-0-10-0, Yuzvendra Chahal 3-0-11-1, Venkatesh Iyer 3-0-36- 2, Ravindra Jadeja 4-0-28-1, Deepak Hooda 3-0-24-0