Team India defeated Sri Lanka in the first ODI at the R Premadasa stadium by 7 wickets. Sri Lankan captain Dasun Shanaka won the toss and elected to bat first. Sri Lanka put up 262 runs at the loss of 9 wickets thanks to a late flourish by Chamika Karunaratne who scored 43 runs off 35 balls coming in at number 8. There were notable contributions by captain Shanaka and Asalanka scoring 39 and 38 runs respectively. Indian bowlers came into the picture after a decent start by the Sri Lankan openers.
The Yuzvendra Chahal and Kuldeep Yadav combination
The combination of Chahal and Kuldeep Yadav proved to be lethal as they picked up 4 wickets together with an economy of just over 5 runs per over. This is the first time that they have bowled together in ODI cricket since the 2019 world cup.
Krunal Pandya’s economic spell
Krunal Pandya justified his selection in the team by conceding only 26 runs In 10 overs at an economy rate of 2.6 runs per over. He completely choked the Sri Lankan batsmen forcing them to make errors.
Young guns step up for India
Prithvi Shaw gave India an explosive start smashing 43 runs off 24 balls before throwing away his wicket in a cheap fashion. But this did not stop debutant Ishan Kishan to blaze away immediately hitting a six off the very first ball of his ODI cricket career. Young Ishan who also celebrates his birthday today smashed a blistering 59 runs off 42 deliveries.
Captain fantastic Shikhar Dhawan played a mindful yet fantastic innings scoring 86 runs and holding his end as his young partners blazed away. He along with Suryakumar Yadav ensured that team India crossed the line and win the game by a huge margin of 7 wickets and 80 balls to spare.
