India vs Sri Lanka 2017, 1st T20I: Hits and misses

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India's stand-in skipper, Rohit Sharma, extended his dream run as the Men in Blue beat Sri Lanka by 93 runs to register their biggest T20I win while batting first and took a 1-0 lead in the three-match series at Cuttack on Wednesday.

Put in to bat, the hosts posted a handsome total of 180/3 in 20 overs but the tourists showed no resistance against India's wrist spinners and were bundled out for 87 in just 16 overs.

Sri Lanka's innings included only four fours and two sixes as they scored the fewest boundaries in a completed T20I encounter.

The second T20I will be played at Indore on Friday, December 22.

Now, let's have a look at the hits and misses from the 1st T20I.

Hit: KL Rahul

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Back with a bang

KL Rahul, who opened the Indian innings with Rohit Sharma in the absence of Shikhar Dhawan, played a fine knock of 61 off 48 balls on a not-so-easy Cuttack wicket.

Rahul, survived a DRS review while he was batting on 23, and then went on to play an almost flawless inning otherwise and lit up the Barabati Stadium with his exquisite strokeplay.

Rahul, who has a T20I ton under his belt, brought up his second fifty in the shortest format of the game in just 34 balls.

His 63-run second-wicket partnership with Shreyas Iyer ensured that Rohit's departure didn’t hurt India too much as the duo added 47 runs between the sixth and the 10th overs.

With his innings consisting 7 fours and a six, Rahul top-scored for the hosts and helped India amass 180/3 in 20 overs.

Miss: Thisara Perera

Thisara Perera
Shocking run continues

Sri Lanka captain Thisara Perera's torrid run as a skipper continued to follow him in the shortest format of the game as well as his team lost the first T20I at Cuttack by a huge margin of 93 runs.

The T20I on Wednesday was Sri Lanka's 100th overall but their milestone match turned out to be an embarrassing affair for the touring party as they were outplayed by the hosts in all departments of the game.

As a captain, Perera, even after winning the toss, could not capitalise even after getting the initial advantage.

He kept relying on his pacers and let India score 180/3 in 20 overs, even though they lost two well-set batsmen in Shreyas Iyer and KL Rahul in quick successions and were reduced to 112/3 in 14.3 overs.

While batting, Perera walked in when Sri Lanka were struggling at 58/5 but he could not play a captain's knock and a string of poor performances continue to haunt him.

Hit: MS Dhoni

MS Dhoni
Stellar game

India lost well-set Shreyas Iyer and KL Rahul in quick successions and that is when MS Dhoni combined forces with Manish Pandey and produced a quintessential MSD finish.

Dhoni upped the ante in the final five overs and brought up an all-important unbeaten stand of 68 from 34 balls with Pandey.

The former India captain went after the loose deliveries and punished them as the duo scored 65 from the last 5 overs to end the innings on a high.

Dhoni, who closed the Indian innings with a six, scored unbeaten 39, while Pandey contributed 32 at the crucial time to take the hosts' total to 180/3 in 20 overs.

The 36-year-old, who is lightning quick behind the stumps, was at his unbelievable best as he completed two stumpings and snapped up two catches to put India on course of a big win.

Miss: Dushmantha Chameera

Dushmantha Chameera
Wayward bowling

Although Thisara Perera, the Sri Lanka captain, chose to bowl in the first T20I keeping in mind the possibility of dew setting in later in the evening, his bowlers did not support his cause well.

Dushmantha Chameera, who was one of the four changes made by the visitors today, was quite disappointing as his three overs conceded 38 runs at an average of 12.67 per over.

Chameera, who has remained wicketless in his last six T20I outings, shifted the momentum completely towards India's side as he leaked 19 runs off his third over.

After two good overs in which Sri Lanka gave away just nine runs and claimed Rahul's wicket, Chameera bowled the 17th over of the Indian innings and was smashed around the park by MS Dhoni and Manish Pandey for 19 runs.

Hit: Yuzvendra Chahal

Yuzvendra Chahal
Spun a web around the Lankans

Yuzvendra Chahal, who was instrumental in India's win in the third and final ODI at Vishakhapatnam on Sunday, continued to weave his magic in the shortest format as well and broke Sri Lanka's back by claiming four wickets at Cuttack on Wednesday.

The visitors' batsmen were not able to read Chahal, who finished his outstanding spell at 4-0-23-4 and was the wrecker-in-chief in Sri Lanka's crushing 93-run loss.

Sri Lanka showed no resistance against India's wrist spinners Yuzvendra Chahal and Kuldeep as they were 46/2 in the eighth over and were all out for 87 in the 16th.

Fittingly, Chahal was adjudged Man of the Match for his awe-inspiring spell.

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Edited by Tanya Rudra