“India were fantastic in the powerplay” - Wasim Jaffer analyzes 1st India vs Sri Lanka T20I

Wasim Jaffer reckons India’s powerplay bowling in the first T20I against Sri Lanka on Tuesday, January 3, made a massive difference to the end result. The former opener opined that the first six overs held Sri Lanka back as they could not get much momentum into their innings and lost wickets as well.

The Men in Blue beat the Lankans by two runs at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai in the first T20I of the three-match series. Chasing 163, Sri Lanka reached 35/2 at the end of the powerplay, with debutant pacer Shivam Mavi claiming both wickets.

A counter-attacking knock by Sri Lankan skipper Dasun Shanaka (45 off 27) gave the visitors hope. However, Team India held their nerves to sneak home and take an early lead in the series. Reflecting on the match, Jaffer told ESPNcricinfo:

“India were fantastic in the powerplay, with the way Hardik Pandya bowled and Shivam Mavi picking up those two wickets. He had a great first game at the international level. India bowled really well and put them on the backfoot with those couple of wickets. That powerplay held Sri Lanka back.”

The former cricketer added that Shanaka’s dismissal was also a crucial moment in the game as he seemed to be putting India under immense pressure. The 44-year-old stated:

“Dasun Shanaka’s wicket was the nail in the coffin. He was taking away the game.”

Shanaka was dismissed by Umran Malik in the 17th over of the innings, with Sri Lanka’s score reading 129/7. They were all out for 160.

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“I thought India were at least 15-20 runs short” - Wasim Jaffer

Sent in to bat after losing the toss, India recovered from 94/5 to post 162/5 courtesy of good knocks from Deepak Hooda (41* off 23) and Axar Patel (31* off 20).

According to Jaffer, India were below the par score, but the Hooda-Axar stand gave them momentum. The former opener said:

“At the halftime, I thought India were at least 15-20 runs short. A little bit of careless batting from India. The wicket was pretty good. 180 was a par score. But Axar and Hooda brought India back into the game with that partnership. They would ideally have wanted Ishan Kishan or Hardik Pandya to bat through. That didn’t happen, but 160 was a decent score.”

Axar was back in action, bowling the last over, with Lanka needing 13 runs. The hosts sneaked home by two runs, but Jaffer reckons that Pandya should have bowled the last over if he was fit. The former batter concluded:

“Had he been fit, he (Hardik) should have bowled the last over. No two ways about it. There’s too much risk bowling a spinner in the 20th over. But if you had to pick between Axar and Chahal, you would pick Axar most times.”

Chamika Karunaratne (23* off 16) kept India on their toes till the end, but could not take his team over the finish line.