3 observations from 1st T20I as India crush Sri Lanka
A dominant India crushed Sri Lanka by 62 runs in the first T20 in Lucknow. The match was set up by a dominant opening partnership between Ishan Kishan and Rohit Sharma and it got the perfect finish courtesy of Shreyas Iyer.
Dasun Shanaka won the toss and he elected to field first. This decision did not quite yield the desired dividends as the Indian openers flew past 100. Ishan Kishan found his range as he sent the Sri Lanka bowlers to the cleaners.
Shreyas Iyer blazed away in the end as India posted 199 runs. Sri Lanka never got going in their chase and kept losing wickets at regular intervals. They ended with 137 runs on the board and were beaten comprehensively.
bit.ly/INDvSL-T20I1
India take a 1-0 series lead ๐
They beat Sri Lanka by 62 runs in the first T20I in Lucknow.
#INDvSL | ๐ bit.ly/INDvSL-T20I1 https://t.co/zwSlaMUc7y
We take a look at the three talking points from the 1st India vs Sri Lanka T20I match.
Ishan Kishan finds his range
Ishan Kishan had an indifferent series against the West Indies. He was troubled by the seam and swing and struggled to find any momentum. However, the management persisted with Kishan and this paid dividends in the first match against Sri Lanka.
Kishan walked out to open the innings, and after a sedate start to his innings, he found his range. This was when he got to business and took the Sri Lanka bowlers to the cleaners.
Dasun Shanaka won the toss, and after his pacers troubled the Indian openers, the lack of pace from the other bowlers worked perfectly for Ishan Kishan.
The pulls were back, the slaps through mid-wicket were back and the youngster was also using his wrists to find gaps expertly. When Kishan was eventually dismissed, he seemed tired and walked back after playing a superb innings of 89 runs in 56 balls.
keeper in T20Is 
Silencing his doubters - ๐๐๐ โ๐ ๐๐๐๐ฅ ๐ป๐ช๐๐๐๐ way ๐ฅ
Ishan Kishan now has the highest individual score (๐๐) by an ๐ฎ๐ณ keeper in T20Is ๐๐
#OneFamily #MumbaiIndians #INDvSL @ishankishan51 https://t.co/H75BKMyMp4
Shreyas Iyer takes off
Shreyas Iyer walked out at No. 3 and was meandering along in his first 10 balls as he scored just 11 runs. However, as soon as Ishan Kishan was dismissed, Iyer found his strokes and there was no looking back for the right-hander.
The powerful strokes became more frequent as the Sri Lankan bowlers became a tad too predictable with their slower balls. Iyer raced to his 50 in just 25 balls and pounded the Sri Lankan attack.
He stayed unbeaten on 57 off 28 balls and gave India the perfect finish - another box that was ticked off perfectly for the hosts. Iyer's knock consisted of five fours and two sixes. The team management will be thrilled with his return to form.
Look who's on ๐ -๐๐ฒ๐๐ซ tonight ๐ฅ
๐ธ BCCI | #INDvSL #CricketTwitter https://t.co/pJq00zQuq4
Indian spinners cast a web
A target of 200 was always going to be a tough ask for Sri Lanka. To make matters all the more tricky for the visitors was that they lost a wicket on the very first ball. The pitch also provided a lot of assistance to the Indian spinners.
Rohit Sharma had two quality spinners at his disposal in Yuzvendra Chahal and Ravindra Jadeja. The duo spun a web around the Sri Lankan middle order. The ball was spinning on the surface and with their experience, the two kept landing the ball on the perfect length.
There was drift and spin on offer and Sri Lanka could never get going. In the process, Chahal also overtook Jasprit Bumrah to become India's leading wicket-taker in T20Is.