MUMBAI, India (AP) — Deepak Hooda struck 41 not out off 23 balls, including four sixes. Axar Patel scored three fours and one six. They put on 68 runs off 31 balls for the sixth wicket as India scored 162/5 in 20 overs.
Sri Lanka was put on the back foot as Mavi struck twice early on. He bowled Pathum Nissanka (1) and had Dhananjaya de Silva (8) caught.
Sri Lanka was down to 68-5 in 10.4 overs. India’s fast bowlers did most of the work. Umran Malik scalped 2-27 in four overs, while Harshal Patel returned 2-41.
Dasun Shanaka scored 45 off 27 balls to resurrect the innings.
Wanindu Hasranga scored 21 off 10 balls to help him. Together they turned the game around before Mavi dismissed Hasranga in the 17th over.
Malik dismissed Shanaka in the 18th over as Sri Lanka was down to 132-8.
Chamika Karunaratne fought with 23 off 16 balls but he was unable to cross the finish line. Harshal Patel had conceded 16 runs in the penultimate over, before Axar Patel (0-31) held his nerve for India’s victory.
It was India’s third narrowest win (by runs) in T20s.
“I was to put the team in difficult situations and it will help us in bigger games,” Pandya, India’s new T20 skipper, said after his first win on home soil. “We, as a team, are quite good in bilateral (series), and that is how we will challenge ourselves,.”
The second T20 will be played in Pune on Thursday.
(Visited 1 times, 1 visits today)
