India Edge Past Sri Lanka By 2 Runs In 1st T20

Sri Lanka fall short by two runs despite Chamika Karunaratne’s unbeaten 23 at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai as India went 1-0 up in the three-match series.

A powerful knock from Deepak Hooda, followed by a four-wicket haul from the debutant Shivam Mavi, guided Team India to victory by 2 runs against Sri Lanka in the first T20I match.

Asked to bat first, Team India lost some wickets initially before Hooda (41*) and Axar Patel (31*) took Team India to a total of 162/5 in 20 overs.

Chasing 163, Sri Lanka kept on losing wickets at regular intervals but Chamika Karunaratne played an unbeaten inning of 23 runs. However, the visitors fell short of 2 runs as they were bundled out at 160 in the last-ball thriller.

Apart from that, Dasun Shanaka smashed 45 runs. For India, Umran Malik and Harshal Patel scalped two wickets each. Team India takes a 1-0 lead in the two-match series.

Debutant Shivam Mavi Heroics Helps India Register Thrilling Win

Mavi picked up two wickets in the Powerplay, sending back Pathum Nissanka and Dhananjaya de Silva to start his debut on a fine note.

Alongside skipper Hardik Pandya, Mavi gave India a good start with the ball as the visitors managed just 35 runs in the first six overs.

The right-arm quick returned to break a crucial 40-run stand, dismissing Wanindu Hasaranga (21 off 10 balls) in the 15th over to leave Dasun Shanaka with a huge task on his hand.

Mavi went on to add a fourth scalp in his final over with the wicket of Maheesh Theekshana to become one of the only three bowlers for India to take four wickets on men’s T20I debut.

Mavi finished with figures of 4-0-22-4, joining the likes of Barinder Sran and Pragyan Ojha as the only three men’s players to take four wickets on their T20I debut for India. Sravanthi Naidu has also taken a four-wicket haul for India on her debut in women’s T20Is.