The first T20I of the three-match series between India and Sri Lanka was played at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on January 3, 2023.
Sri Lanka won the toss and chose to field first, while India handed T20I debuts to Shivam Mavi and Shubman Gill.
Ishan Kishan (37 in 29 balls) gave India a quick start, but Shubman Gill (7), Suryakumar Yadav (7), and Sanju Samson (5) fell early. Add to this the wickets of Kishan and then captain Hardik Pandya (26), putting India in a spot of bother at 94/5 in the 15th over.
Then Akshar Patel and Deepak Hooda came together and pressed onto the accelerator and added 68* runs for the 6th wicket with Hooda making 41* in 23 balls with 4 sixes and one four and Akshar making 31* in 20 balls, India’s final total read 162/5 in 20 overs.
Sri Lanka had to chase down a 163-run target and started poorly as Shivam Mavi took two wickets to hurt Sri Lanka badly as Pathum Nissanka got bowled for 1 run and Dhananjaya de Silva fell for 8 runs.
Charith Asalanka looked dangerous for his 12, but Ishan Kishan took an amazing catch to get rid of him on the bowling of Umran Malik. Mavi also accounted for Wanindu Hasaranga (21) and Maheesh Theekshana to finish his spell for 4/22 in 4 overs.
Umran Malik got rid of dangerous Dasun Shanaka for 45 in 27 balls and while Chamika Karunaratne got Sri Lanka mighty close with his 23* in 16 balls, Akshar Patel kept his cool bowling the 20th over and helped India win the first match by 2 runs.
Apart from Shivam, Umran Malik bowled beautifully with figures of 2/27, while Harshal Patel picked 2/41. Deepak Hooda was given the Player of the Match for his knock.
India went 1-0 up in this three-match T20I series with the second match to be played on January 5 in Pune.
The cricket fraternity was all praises for the Indian team for defending a below-par total on the Wankhede pitch.
Here are the tweets:
