India may have sent an inexperienced squad to Sri Lanka, but that didn’t seem to matter in the series opener, as they thrashed the hosts by 7 wickets in the first ODI in Colombo on Sunday.
Shikhar Dhawan, India’s 25th skipper in the 50-over format, had a brilliant leadership debut, leading from the front and top-scoring in their victorious chase, as well as earning a number of significant milestones along the road.
India cruised to victory in their 263-run chase, finishing in 36.4 overs with Dhawan undefeated on 86. During the innings, he passed 6000 ODI runs and also reached 1000 runs in the format against Sri Lanka.
Ishan Kishan, who became the first Indian to smash a fifty on his T20I and ODI debuts, was another player who had a significant influence on the game. Kishan blasted 59 off 42 balls with eight fours and a couple of sixes to become the second batter in T20I and ODI cricket to achieve half-centuries on debut, following South African Rassie van der Dussen.
Kishan, who turned 23 on Sunday, became the 16th Indian to make a fifty on ODI debut, smashing it in 33 balls, the second-fastest ODI fifty by an Indian after Krunal Pandya’s 26-ball blitzkrieg against England in March.
Dhawan and Kishan, on the other hand, had Prithvi Shaw to thank for getting India off to a fast start with a 24-ball 43 at the top of the order, which startled the inexperienced Lankan bowling attack right away. Shaw was named Player of the Match for his role in setting the tone for India’s run chase.
Earlier, Sri Lanka reached 262 for 9 after opting to bat first at the R Premadasa stadium, thanks to a late cameo from Karunaratne.
After reducing the hosts to 117 for 4 by half-time, Indian bowlers controlled the first innings, but Sri Lanka came back via their bottom middle-order of Karunaratne and skipper Dasun Shanaka, with Charith Asalanka also contributing.
Karunaratne led the way with 43 not out off 35 balls, while Shanaka and Asalanka contributed 39 and 38 runs respectively to assist their team achieve a difficult total after the Indian spinners had them on the ropes in the early part of their innings.
Kuldeep Yadav and Yuzvendra Chahal each took two wickets in their first match together since the 2019 World Cup group-stage defeat to England, while fast bowler Deepak Chahar struck twice right before the final overs.
Hardik Pandya, who bowled for India for the first time since March 28, took a wicket in his five overs, while his older brother Krunal also took a wicket.
Bhuvneshwar Kumar, the visitors’ vice-captain, was the only bowler who failed to bowl for them.
The second match will take place on July 20 at the same location. After a handful of Covid-19 instances in the Sri Lankan camp delayed the schedule, the three-match series was postponed by five days.
