Shikhar Dhawan, the Indian skipper was extremely pleased with the effort put in by the Indian players in the first T20I as India defeated Sri Lanka by 38 runs in the first T20I at the R Premadasa Stadium to take a 1-0 lead in the three-match series. India managed a total of 164 runs in 20 overs while batting in Colombo.
Then, the bowlers performed splendidly as they bowled out Sri Lanka for just 126 runs with Bhuvneshwar Kumar taking four wickets. Suryakumar Yadav scored 50 off 34 balls, his second half-century in his fourth T20 International, and was involved in a 62-run stand for the third wicket with skipper Shikhar Dhawan.
Shikhar Dhawan: Suryakumar Yadav Is A Great Player And It’s Enjoyable To Watch Him Batting
Shikhar Dhawan after the match lauded Suryakumar Yadav for his 360-degree batting as he said that the 30-year-old is an “amazing” player to watch.
“He(Surya) is a great player and we enjoy watching him bat. He took the pressure from me and the way he plays calculated shots was amazing to watch,” Dhawan said at the post-match presentation ceremony.
While Shikhar Dhawan admitted that he thought they were “10-15 runs short”, he also assessed that it wasn’t too bad in terms of recovery.
“I feel we played quite well after losing early wickets. It was about one or two boundaries, we knew we could get going.”
Already one of India’s best batters in the ODIs, Suryakumar Yadav played the defining innings in the first T20I, producing the game’s only half-century – with 50 off 34. Where others struggled for timing on this surface, Suryakumar Yadav’s batting was effortless.
Shikhar Dhawan Was Confident That Spinners Will Do Well As Debutant Varun Chakravarthy, Krunal Pandya, And Yuxzvendra Chahal Bowled Well
Shikhar Dhawan was confident that his spinners would do well and it was vindicated by Yuzvendra Chahal and Krunal Pandya with debutant Varun Chakravarthy doing well to make a late comeback.
“They were playing well. We knew our spinners will do the job on that wicket. Bhuvi bowled well, so was KP (Krunal). Everyone stood up and even Varun too playing his first match did well giving a few runs and got the wicket. He’s (Varun) difficult to pick, I am very happy for him.”
Sri Lankan captain Dasun Shanaka felt that a target of 165 was gettable.
“I think 164 was chaseable on this wicket. I think their bowlers upfront started really well. And then there were not enough middle-order batters to finish the game. I think our bowlers did an amazing job. I hope we come out and do better than this in the next game,” Shanaka commented.