Twitter Reactions: Ishan Kishan leads India to a stunning victory in T20I opener

India keep their unbeaten run in the shortest format intact with a convincing 62-run win over Sri Lanka in the first T20I at the Ekana Stadium in Lucknow on February 24. By the virtue of this win, the Men In Blue have won seven straight T20Is including back-to-back series victories over New Zealand and the West Indies respectively.

After a batting masterclass from skipper Rohit Sharma, his opening partner Ishan Kishan and the middle-order sensation Shreyas Iyer in the first innings, the Indian bowlers provided breakthroughs at regular intervals in the second as the Sri Lankans lost the plot in their stiff chase of 200 runs and could never recover once they started losing wickets from the word ‘go’.

Ishan Kishan falls short of a deserving century

After being put in to bat by the Sri Lankan skipper Dasun Shanaka, Ishan Kishan along with captain Rohit Sharma ensured a brisk start for India as the duo added 111 runs for the opening stand before the latter’s dismissal in the 12th over scoring 44 runs off 32 deliveries. The southpaw took the Sri Lankan bowlers to the cleaners at regular intervals and scored an excellent half-century off only 30 balls.

Unfortunately, Kishan missed out on his maiden ton by just 11 runs as he walked back to the dugout having scored 89 runs off 59 deliveries. A quickfire 57 off 28 balls by Shreyas Iyer towards the backend of the innings propelled India to 199/2 from their 20 overs. In reply, the visitors never got going once they lost in-form opener Pathum Nissanka for a golden duck as the Indian bowlers kept on striking with accurate bowling. At 97/6, it seemed to be all over for them but, middle-order batter Charith Asalanka soldiered with a valiant knock and remained unbeaten on 53 off 47 deliveries.

Nonetheless, he was the lone warrior for Sri Lanka and no support from the other end meant that the 2014 T20 world champions were eventually restricted to 137/6 from their 20 overs.

Here are the Twitter Reactions after India’s well-deserved win in 1st T20I