At a stadium where the bowlers historically do not have much to boast about, the first T20I of 2023 between India and Sri Lanka was a game highlighted by the performance of the bowling units of both sides. A target of 161, which would have been thought of as below par at the Wankhede Stadium was made to look like a mountain of runs by the Indian bowling attack.
Not to forget Sri Lanka’s efforts as the bowlers hunted in pack and restricted India for such a total in first place.
India held nerves and snatched a two-run win as Sri Lanka lament their loss after coming so close to chasing the target.
As cricket resumes in the new year for India, we continue talking about what happened and how it happened.
Here are the talking points from India vs Sri Lanka 1st T20I –
Shivam Mavi’s dream-like debut spell
India will be pleased with the performance of one of their two debutants as Shivam Mavi returned with a four-wicket spell and also brought India back in the hunt.
In fact, Mavi is only the third Indian bowler to bag four wickets on his T20I debut after Barinder Sran and Pragyan Ojha.
Mavi gave India the opening breakthrough as his delivery went through the gate between the bat and pad of Pathum Nissanka to dislodge his stumps and also dismissed Dhananjaya de Silva in his second over.
Mavi then bagged two wickets in death overs and put pressure on Sri Lanka when they seemed to get better off India’s total.
Skipper Hardik Pandya also praised Mavi stating that the youngsters brought them back in the game.
Hardik Pandya’s captaincy and new-ball bowling
It initially seemed like Hardik opened the bowling as he can he do whatever he wants being the captain. But, jokes apart, he was very effective at the start and applied brakes on the Sri Lankan powerplay.
He later confirmed at the presentation that he has been practicing in the nets with the new ball and that is why he tried to bowl upfront.
It also showed that Pandya is willing to lead from the front and take responsibility upon himself.
Hardik’s captaincy once again stood out as his bowling changes and field placements turned out to be fruitful for India.
The all-rounder also confirmed that he is trying to put the team in troubled waters and make them trained for crucial situations. He is willing to open the experiment lab for this purpose.
The fact that he was clear in his thoughts, and denied Harsha Bhogle claiming at the post-match presentation that Axar Patel bowling the last over was a gamble, confirms that he is an able leader.
Dasun Shanaka’s innings
Sri Lanka would be disappointed with their performance, but take optimism from their skipper Dasun Shanaka’s innings. The all-rounder smashed three maximums and as many boundaries to bring his side closer to victory.
Shanaka scored 45 from 27 deliveries and ensured his side remains in the hunt. The game was very much in their control until Umran Malik got his wicket in the 17th over.
Deepak Hooda – Axar Patel partnership
The Sri Lankan bowlers were excellent as they hunted in pack and kept getting wickets at regular intervals. Only two of the top five Indian batters got a brisk start as Suryakumar Yadav, Shubman Gill, and Sanju Samson were dismissed cheaply.
Ishan Kishan started with some brisk shots but was forced to slow down as the Lankan bowlers improvised on their lengths.
India were strangled at 94/5 in 14.1 overs but Deepak Hooda (41* off 23) and Axar Patel (31* off 20) took control and made sure India reached 160.
The duo hit four boundaries and five maximums. Four of those maximums came from Hooda’s blade and he was also adjudged player of the match for an impactful innings.
The 68-run partnership also blunted the overriding Sri Lankan attack.
Chamika Krunaratne’s cameo
The tail-ender played a significant role at the death as he kept the Sri Lankan hopes alive till the very end. The right-hander scored 23 runs from 16 balls.
More importantly, he hit two sixes – one each in the 19th and 20th over – and brought his side closer to the target.
However, he couldn’t connect the ball one more time as Sri Lanka fell short by two runs.
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