India might have brought an inexperienced team to Sri Lanka, but that made little difference at the start of the series as they recorded a massive 7-wicket win over the hosts at the first ODI in Colombo on Sunday.
Shikhar Dhawan, who became India’s 25th championship leader in 50-over format, made a great captaincy debut and led from the front with top scoring in their successful chase, apart from a few key milestones along the way.
India made the 263 run chase easy, crossing the finish line in just 36.4 overs, while Dhawan was unbeaten at 86. He walked over 6000 ODI runs during the innings and also completed 1000 runs against Sri Lanka in format.
INDIA vs SRI LANKA 1. ODI: HIGHLIGHTS
Another player who made a huge impact on the game was Ishan Kishan, who became the first Indian to reach fifty on his T20I and ODI debuts. Kishan smashed 59 of 42 balls with 8 fours and a couple of sixes to become the second batsman after South African Rassie van der Dussen scored half centuries on her debut in T20I and ODI cricket.
Kishan, who turned 23 on Sunday, was the 16th Indian to score a fifty on the ODI debut, making his way to the mark with just 33 balls in March.
However, it was thanks to Prithvi Shaw that both Dhawan and Kishan made a quick start in India with a 24-ball 43 at the top of the sequence that stunned the inexperienced Lankan bowling attack from the start. Shaw was even voted Player of the Game for setting the pace of India’s run-hunt.
‘KULCHA’ REUNION FOR THE SCRIPT LANKAN DOWNFALL
Previously, a late cameo from Chamika Karunaratne helped Sri Lanka hit 262 for 9 after opting to hit first at R Premadasa Stadium.
Indian bowlers dominated the majority of the first innings after reducing the hosts to 117 for 4 by halftime, but Sri Lanka fought back through their lower-middle order of Karunaratne and Captain Dasun Shanaka while Charith Asalanka also made a useful contribution.
Karunaratne scored the best at 43 out of 35 balls, while Shanaka and Asalanka scored 39 and 38 respectively to help their team reach a challenging total after the Indian spinners had them on the ropes in the first half of their innings.
Kuldeep Yadav and Yuzvendra Chahal, who play together for the first time since the defeat in the 2019 World Cup group stage against England, each won a couple of wickets, while the fast bowler Deepak Chahar also struck twice shortly before death.
Hardik Pandya, who bowled for India for the first time since March 28, picked up a wicket from his 5 overs, while his older brother Krunal also took a wicket. Vice-captain Bhuvneshwar Kumar was the only bowler who was unsuccessful for the visitors.
The next game will be played on July 20th at the same location. The three-game series was postponed for 5 days after some Covid-19 cases in the Sri Lankan camp messed up the schedule.
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