The ball flew off Prithvi Shaw’s bat and Ishan Kishan was uber-aggressive on his ODI debut. Within the first ODI of the three-match sequence, Shikhar Dhawan’s ‘second-string’ India had a stroll within the park at Ranasinghe Premadasa Stadium in Colombo.
Chasing 263 for victory on pitch, the vacationers gained by seven wickets with 80 balls to spare. Shaw’s 24-ball 43 supplied early momentum and Kishan’s 42-ball 59 took the sport away from Sri Lanka. Dhawan anchored the chase with an unbeaten 86 off 95 balls however earlier than the batsmen did their job, India’s spinners unsettled the opponents.
On his return to the Indian workforce, Shaw confirmed no indicators of the surplus baggage of a miserable Australia tour final winter. This was his first 50-over worldwide in about 18 months. In batting-friendly situations, the 21-year-old didn’t have the concern of his exaggerated hand motion impeding his pure recreation. The Sri Lankan new-ball bowlers, Dushmantha Chameera and Isuru Udana, barely moved the ball and Shaw lower free from the outset. His bat-speed contributed to the way in which he timed the ball.
Udana bowled a full supply round off and Shaw stayed behind the road to caress it previous mid-on for a 4. A few majestic cowl drives adopted in Udana’s subsequent over. An off-drive towards Chameera was even higher. Shaw’s contact was mesmerising and India had been galloping. The scoreboard learn 57 for no loss after 5 overs and the hosts seemed demoralised.
Overconfidence most likely performed an element in Shaw’s dismissal slightly than the Chameera bouncer that crashed into his helmet. It upset his circulate all proper, however possibly Shaw would have been higher off with a momentary gear-shift towards off-spinner Dhananjaya de Silva. He holed out at long-on, however this knock would give the teen numerous confidence.
Debut to recollect
Kishan by no means seemed like he was making his India debut on this format. The left-hander bought off the mark straightaway with a six off Dhananjaya. The offie altered his size and pushed the subsequent supply flatter. Kishan smashed it previous cover-point for a 4.
Kishan’s dancing toes neutralised the Sri Lankan spinners and transformed first rate deliveries into hittable ones. Three consecutive fours in a Dhananjaya over was cultured aggression. Sri Lanka’s fielding didn’t assist issues. Kishan ought to have been out on 32, however Chameera parried an easy catch off Charith Asalanka over the long-on boundary.
Sri Lanka’s cricket has taken a pointy downturn, which must be a matter of concern for the nation’s cricket hierarchy. As for Kishan, he raced to a 33-ball half-century.
Spots up for grabs
On the face of it, focus can be extra on the three T20Is that comply with the ODI sequence. Nonetheless, for the perimeter gamers, the one-dayers are a pleasant alternative to get into the groove and carry ahead the shape into the shortest format. India’s batting line-up for the T20 World Cup will decide itself and for somebody like Dhawan, runs and strike fee in T20Is can be extra essential than what he does within the 50-over format. For the likes the Kishan, outing right here will hold him in rivalry in case India want a backup for Rishabh Pant or KL Rahul.
The complete limited-overs sequence, nevertheless, is extra essential for the spinners, for past Ravindra Jadeja there’s a emptiness, going into the T20 World Cup. From that perspective, it’s a optimistic that Yuzvendra Chahal and Kuldeep Yadav began on observe. Chahal broke Sri Lanka’s opening partnership and retuned with a few wickets. Kuldeep additionally bagged two wickets and seemed to have gotten his zip and flawed’un again. Minod Bhanuka’s dismissal was a working example, because the tossed-up supply turned and fizzed after pitching and took the surface edge. Three balls beforehand, Kuldeep had accounted for Bhanuka Rajapaksa with a shortish one which skidded a bit, as Dhawan took a wonderful catch. Krunal Pandya was miserly.
However Bhuvneshwar Kumar was rusty. Harm-prone of late and devoid of recreation time, the medium pacer’s deliveries at instances sleepwalked to the wicketkeeper. Then on the dying, he was taken to the cleaners by Chamika Karunaratne. The vice-captain of this workforce wants overs beneath his belt to regain his kind and selecting him for the Sri Lanka tour slightly than the Exams in England seemed to be a good name.
