Virat-led India beat the iSLanders

India (Shar)made Cha(h)ar changes to their playing eleven – Rohit, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mohammed Shami and Deepak made way for Shikhar Dhawan, Shardul Thakur, Jasprit Bumrah and Navdeep Saini (the player of the match).

Sri Lanka made eight changes to the eleven that last played the Indians – Kusal Mendis, Upul Tharanga, Thisara Perera, Jeevan Mendis, Akila Dananjaya, Suranga Lakmal, Dushmantha Chameera and Nuwan Pradeep made way for the Fernandos (Avishka and Oshada), Bhanuka Rajapaksa, Dhananjaya de Silva, Wanindu Hasaranga, Isuru Udana, Lasith Malinga (who was leading the team) and Lahiru Kumara.

On winning the toss, Virat Kohli, India’s skipper, inserted the visitors.

The Powerplay of Sri Lanka’s innings – which was the mandatory Powerplay – was between the first and the sixth over. They scored 48, and lost a wicket.

Avishka, whose 16-ball innings included five boundaries, scored 22. Twenty-nine balls into the match, he was caught by Saini. Washington Sundar broke the 38-run stand.

Sri Lanka scored 50 off 6.3 overs (39 balls). India had conceded five extras at that point.

Danushka Gunathilaka, whose 21-ball innings included three boundaries, scored 20. Seventeen balls after Avishka’s dismissal, Saini broke the 16-run stamd.

Oshada, whose nine-ball innings included a boundary, scored 10. Twenty-three balls later, he was stumped by Rishabh Pant. Kuldeep Yadav broke the 28-run stand.

Kusal Perera, whose 28-ball innings included three sixes, scored 34. Eleven balls later, he was caught by Dhawan. Yadav broke the 15-run stand.

Sri Lanka scored 100 off 13.4 overs (82 balls). India had conceded half-a-dozen extras at that point. That was, incidentally, the number of extras they eventually conceded.

Rajapaksa, whose 12-ball innings included a boundary, scored (Sai)nine. Nine balls after Kusal Perera’s dismissal, he was caught by Pant. Needless to say, the Karnal-born pacer was in seventh heaven.

Dasun Shanaka, who faced eight balls, scored seven. Thirteen balls later, Bumrah broke the run-a-ball stand.

De Silva, whose 13-ball innings included a couple of boundaries, scored 17. Eight balls later, he was caught by Shivam Dube. Thakur broke the 11-run stand.

Hasaranga, whose innings included three boundaries, scored 16. He was unbea‘ten’.

Udana, who faced a couple of balls, scored a run. Three balls later, he was caught by Saini. Thakur broke the one-run stand.

The ninth-wicket pair didn’t get off the mark. Malinga, who faced a ball, didn’t open his account. The next ball, he was caught by Yadav off the bowling of Thakur.

Kumara, who didn’t face a ball, was unbeaten.

Sri Lanka scored 142 for the loss of nine wickets off 20 overs.

Each of the five bowlers bowled four overs apiece. Bumrah and Sundar picked up a wicket apiece. While the former conceded 32, the latter conceded 29. Yadav and Saini picked up a couple of scalps apiece. While the former conceded 38, the latter conceded 18. Thakur, who conceded 23, picking up three scalps.

The Powerplay of India’s innings – which was the mandatory Powerplay – was between the first and the sixth over. They scored 54, without the loss of a wicket.

India’s openers put on 50 off 5.1 overs (31 balls). Sri Lanka had conceded an extra at that point. While Lokesh Rahul’s contribution to the partnership was 36, Dhawan’s contribution to it was 13.

Rahul, whose 32-ball innings included half-a-dozen boundaries, eventually scored 45. Fifty-five balls into the chase, Hasaranga broke the 71-run partnership.

Sixty-eight balls into the chase, Sri Lanka sought a bowling review. Dhawan – who eventually scored 32 off 29 balls, which included a couple of boundaries – was the batsman. It was upheld by umpire Chettithody Shamshuddin. Thirteen balls later, he was trapped leg before wicket by Hasaranga, who broke the 15-run stand.

India scored 100 off 14.2 overs (86 balls). Sri Lanka had conceded a couple of extras at that point. That was, incidentally, the number of extras they eventually conceded.

The third-wicket pair put on 50 off 33 balls. Sri Lanka hadn’t conceded any extras at that point. While Shreyas Iyer’s contribution to the partnership was 26, Kohli’s contribution to it was 24.

Iyer, whose 26-ball innings included three boundaries and a six, eventually scored 34. Thirty-five balls after Dhawan’s dismissal, he was caught by Shanaka. Kumara broke the 51-run partnership.

Kohli, whose 17-ball innings included a boundary and a couple of sixes, eventually scored 30. He was unbeaten, as was Pant, who faced a ball, scoring a run.

India, who scored 144 for the loss of three wickets off 17.3 overs, won by seven wickets with 15 balls to spare.

De Silva, who bowled a couple of overs, conceded 15. He was wicketless, as was Malinga and Shanaka, who bowled four overs apiece. While the former conceded 41, the latter conceded 26.

Kumara, who bowled 3.3 overs, conceded 30. He picked up a wicket. Hasaranga, who bowled four overs, conceded 30. He picked up two scalps.   

India led the three-match series 1-0.