India vs Sri Lanka 2017, 1st T20I: 5 positives for Rohit Sharma and co.

India won the first T20I, a rather one-sided affair, against Sri Lanka by 93 runs at the Barabati Stadium in Cuttack. KL Rahul, MS Dhoni and Yuzvendra Chahal starred as India secured their biggest win in T20Is. They now head into Indore with a 1-0 lead and plenty of confidence.

Here are five things that contributed to their victory:

#5 KL Rahul's solid foundation

Rahul scored a phenomenal 61 at the top of the order after replacing Shikhar Dhawan in the T20I squad. His knock gave India a solid start, allowing them to explode in the final overs. He took his time to settle down but once he did, he scored a few good boundaries and saved India from an early collapse.

Rahul hit seven boundaries and a massive six and laid the platform for the likes of Manish Pandey and MS Dhoni to go hard at the end.

#4 Ground fielding and catching

The fielding was top-notch from the Indians

Despite the presence of dew on the outfield, the Indians were electric in the field, restricting Sri Lanka in the power-play. Sri Lanka's lack of boundaries forced them to attack mindlessly which led to a lot of wickets falling.

India's fielding standards have risen in recent years. Dhoni was brilliant behind the stumps and the bowlers were excellent, taking catches off their own bowling.

#3 Unadkat's opening spell

Unadkat enjoyed opening the bowling in his second T20I

Going into this match with plenty of confidence, Unadkat opened the bowling for the Indians. He bagged the wicket of Niroshan Dickwella and only gave away 7 runs in the two overs he bowled. He used the slower ball brilliantly and squeezed the flow of runs which led to a wicket.

Despite the presence of dew, he showed a lot of control with the new ball and did not give away too many freebies.

#2 Pandey-Dhoni partnership

Dhoni was at his best

Pandey and Dhoni's partnership changed the course of India's innings as the duo put on 68 runs and attacked Sri Lanka's bowling at the death. With lightning quick running between the wickets and regular boundaries, these two managed to bring India's total to 180.

Dhoni and Pandey silenced a lot of critics, attacking from ball one and staying until the end.

#1 Spin twins - Yuzvendra Chahal and Kuldeep Yadav

Kuldeep Yadav was at his wily best

Spinners are usually not utilized when there is dew on the outfield, but Rohit Sharma made sure they got a dry ball to work with. The spin twins used this opportunity and bowled with a lot of guile.

Chahal was at his usual best as he took 4 important wickets to wreck Sri Lanka's chase. He used all his variations - the googly and the flipper - and scalped the wickets of the most dangerous batsmen in the Sri Lankan line up.

Kuldeep Yadav bowled miserly as he only gave away 18 runs in his 4 overs. He also picked up the wickets of Kusal Perera and Dasun Shanaka.