Nidahas Trophy 2018, Match 1, SL vs IND, Review: Kusal Perera's blitz powers Sri Lanka to victory

Sri Lanka have begun Nidahas Trophy with a stunning five-wicket victory over India at R Premadasa Stadium in Colombo. They looked a completely different outfit in terms of confidence on the day and proved to be a better side. Kusal Perera was special in the chase as he hammered the inexperienced Indian bowling which was caught off-guard big time. However, Shikhar Dhawan‘s 90-run knock went in vain as the hosts defeated the Men in Blue in style.

Sri Lanka won the toss and opted to bowl first in front of a jam-packed crowd in Colombo. Surprisingly, the vice-captain of the team Surnaga Lakmal wasn’t included in the side and preferred Nuwan Pradeep over him. India also handed a debut, Vijay Shankar, as they were aiming to try their bench strength in this series. The pitch was looking a good one to bat on and a huge score from India was expected.

Rohit’s poor run with the bat continues

The Men in Blue got off to a poor start once again as Rohit Sharma’s woes with the bat continued. He failed to get off the mark and was sent back in the very first over courtesy a splendid catch by Jeevan Mendis. Soon they were jolted further as Suresh Raina missed a full toss from Pradeep and was castled to leave his team reeling at 9/2. Though Shikhar Dhawan was in good touch on the day and went on to smash the ball from word go. He took Manish Pandey with him and resurrected the innings of the team.

Both added 95 runs for the third wicket with the left-handed opener reaching his half-century in the process. Dhawan was looking special and he was literally batting on a different planet as his partner was struggling. Eventually, Pandey was dismissed in the 13th over on 37 off 35 deliveries by Mendis to bring the potential replacement of MS Dhoni, Rishabh Pant, to the middle. Meanwhile, Dhawan continued to clobber the bowling and was set to bring up his maiden T20I century.

But unfortunately, he could score 90 off 49 deliveries with 6 fours and as many maximums. India failed to add quick runs in the death overs yet again and could only muster 24 runs in the last three overs. Eventually, they posted  174 runs for the loss of 5 wickets after 20 overs. Pant scrambled his way to run-a-ball 23 and didn’t look comfortable at all during his stay in the middle. Dinesh Karthik remained unbeaten on 13 off 6 balls.

Dushmantha Chameera bagged two in his kitty and conceded 33 runs while the likes of Pradeep, Jeevan and Danushka Gunathilaka scalped a wicket each.

Kusal Perera leads the way

The chase started a rather little poorly for the hosts with their in-form batsman Kusal Mendis being dismissed in the second over by Washington Sundar. However, his namesake Kusal Perera arrived and changed the complexion of the game completely. He just smashed all the bowlers who came in his way. He took a special liking to Shardul Thakur and scored 27 runs off him in the third over of the innings. That set Sri Lanka off as he continued playing his shots and brought up his half-century off just 20 deliveries.

Meanwhile, the visitors took the wickets of Gunthilaka, the skipper Dinesh Chandimal and tried to set the panic in the hosts’ camp. But Perera’s innings of 66 off 37 balls with 6 fours and 4 maximums was so good at the top that the lower-middle took its time in the end to win the game. In the end, it was Thisara Perera fittingly finishing the game for his team in the 19th over with a boundary off Thakur. Kusal Perera was awarded Man of the Match for his brilliant knock.

Indian bowlers looked completely out of touch, especially the pacers who badly missed Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Jasprit Bumrah. Sundar stood out amongst all as he returned with the figures of 2/28 in his four overs.

Sri Lanka have started their campaign with a victory and will be eager to continue in the same vein now in the remainder of the tri-series. India, on the other hand, have to come back well now and have only a solitary day to turn things around as they face Bangladesh in their next game on March 8.

Brief Scores

India 174/5 after 20 overs (S Dhawan 90, M Pandey 37; D Chameera 2/33, D Gunathilaka 1/16)

Sri Lanka 175/5 after 18.3 overs (K Perera 66; W Sundar 2/28, Y Chahal 2/37)

Result: Sri Lanka won by 5 wickets

Man of the Match: Kusal Perera