India beat Sri Lanka in the first of the three-match T20I series at Mumbai’s Wankhede Stadium by just two runs to take 1-0 lead in 3-match series. With 13 needed off last 6 balls, Hardik Pandya handed the ball to Axar Patel–the spinner after an expensive over from Harshal Patel. Nevertheless, he kept calm and put Chamika Karunaratne to the test despite accounting 8 runs in the first four balls. In the end, he gave away just one run off the last ball with the equation reading 4 off 1. Moreover, he also affected a run out off the penultimate ball to play pivotal role in a pulsating encounter where he went wicketless.
Earlier Umran Malik managed to dismiss dangerman Dasun Shanaka (45 off 27 balls) who was threatening to take the game away from India. The Sri Lanka skipper walked in with his team staring down the barrel; nevertheless, he hung on and managed to give India a scare. He was well supported by Wanindu Hasaranga (21 off 10) as the duo attacked the Indian spinners. But in the end, Malik prevailed as he removed the skipper after which the visitors quickly lost the momentum.
He ended up with two wickets but not before his pace was used against him by Lankan batters. The peak of the bowlers was none other than debutante Shivam Mavi( 4/22) who started off by knocking off Pathum Nissanka. He would went onto account for the likes of Dhananjaya De Silva, Wanindu Hasaranga and Maheesh Theekshana.
Earlier Indian bowlers were right on the money as they reduced Sri Lanka to 51/4 in a modest chase of 163 runs. Thanks to some superb bowling from debutante Mavi, Umran and Harshal Patel, Sri Lanka were in spot of bother before Lankan duo created a scare. While Mavi was accurate, Harshal and Umran still have room to improve. As pressure got to Harshal, he even bowled a no-ball in the dying stages of the game, ending up giving away 40 runs. On the other hand, both the spinners—Yuzi Chahal and Aaxar Patel went wicketless; however, the latter played a big role with bat through his cameo.
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