The ball flew off Prithvi Shaw’s bat and Ishan Kishan was uber-aggressive on his ODI debut. In the primary 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 a great pitch, the vacationers gained by seven wickets with 80 balls to spare. Shaw’s 24-ball 43 offered 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 group, 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 best way 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 in opposition to Chameera was even higher. Shaw’s contact was mesmerising and India have been galloping. The scoreboard learn 57 for no loss after 5 overs and the hosts seemed demoralised.
Overconfidence in all probability performed an element in Shaw’s dismissal somewhat than the Chameera bouncer that crashed into his helmet. It upset his move all proper, however perhaps Shaw would have been higher off with a momentary gear-shift in opposition to off-spinner Dhananjaya de Silva. He holed out at long-on, however this knock would give the teen lots of confidence.
Debut to recollect
Kishan by no means seemed like he was making his India debut on this format. The left-hander received off the mark straightaway with a six off Dhananjaya. The offie altered his size and pushed the following 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 a simple 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 could be extra on the three T20Is that observe the ODI sequence. Still, 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 charge in T20Is can be extra vital than what he does within the 50-over format. For the likes the Kishan, a great outing right here will preserve him in competition in case India want a backup for Rishabh Pant or KL Rahul.
The complete limited-overs sequence, nonetheless, is extra vital for the spinners, for past Ravindra Jadeja there’s a emptiness, going into the T20 World Cup. From that standpoint, it’s a optimistic that Yuzvendra Chahal and Kuldeep Yadav began on a great 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 improper’un again. Minod Bhanuka’s dismissal was a working example, because the tossed-up supply turned and fizzed after pitching and took the skin edge. Three balls beforehand, Kuldeep had accounted for Bhanuka Rajapaksa with a shortish one which skidded a bit, as Dhawan took a superb catch. Krunal Pandya was miserly.
But Bhuvneshwar Kumar was rusty. Injury-prone of late and devoid of recreation time, the medium pacer’s deliveries at instances sleepwalked to the wicketkeeper. Then on the loss of life, he was taken to the cleaners by Chamika Karunaratne. The vice-captain of this group wants overs below his belt to regain his type and selecting him for the Sri Lanka tour somewhat than the Tests in England gave the impression to be a good name.
