India arrived in the Island nation for the tri-series after beating South Africa in the T20-series. They were without their regular skipper Kohli and other star players like Dhoni and Pandya.

Also Read: Nidahas Trophy 2018: Schedule, Squads, Format, Live Streaming, Telecast

Nidahas Trophy: Kusal Perera’s blitz blows India away in the tri-series opener

India handed a debut to 27-year-old allrounder Vijay Shankar and played two wicketkeepers in the form of Dinesh Karthik and Rishabh Pant with former being listed as the wicketkeeper.  Sri Lanka, on the other hand, went with 4 specialist bowlers.

Pacers struck early

India’s start was dented early by the Sri Lankan pacers with two quick wickets in the form of skipper Rohit Sharma and Suresh Raina. Rohit Sharma was caught for a naught sensationally by Jeevan Mendis who ran back to pouch the catch. Raina showed a great form against South Africa at the number 3 position, however, he was removed for 1 when Nuwan Pradeep shattered the stumps of the left-hander.

Dhanwan-Pandey stitch a partnership

After the early dents in the innings, Shikhar Dhawan along with Manish Pandey provided stability to the Indians. However, It was left-handed Shikhar Dhawan who looked in tremendous touch in the partnership. He smashed back to back sixes off Nuwan Pradeep and then hit a four to complete a T20 half-century off just 30 deliveries in the 11th over of the match.

Pandey at the other end was managing to rotate the strike but he was failing to find the boundary. His resistance ended when he was caught by Gunathilaka in the Jeevan Mendis over for 37 runs off 35 balls. Dhawan continued his attack from the other end when he deposited spinner Akila Dananjaya for a huge six.

Pant’s struggle

Pant was promoted ahead of Dinesh Karthik to up the ante but the left-hander struggled throughout his innings. Struggling Pant meant that Dhawan needed to score briskly. The left-hander got out in the search of quick runs but not before playing a blistering knock of 90 runs off just 49 balls which saw him deposit the ball over the boundary for 6 times.

Sri Lanka just gave 10 runs in the 18th and 19th over. 3 fours in the last over helped India cross the 170-run mark. India eventually managed to post 174 runs in the 20 over with struggling Pant getting out on the last ball of the over for a run-a-ball 23.

The run chase

Washington Sundar came to bowl the second over of the innings and removed opener Kusal Mendis on his 3rd ball of the over.

Kusal Perera carnage

Well, then came an onslaught from Perera. It was Shardul Thakur at the receiving end. Perera treated the bowler like some club bowler as he kept hitting the fours and sixes in the over. 27 runs came from the over. Sri Lankans brought their 50 in the 4th over. Gunathilaka from the other end hit Unadkat for a six and a four before failing to read a cutter from him.

Perera continued his attacking game when he smashed Chahal for a six over his head in his first over. He got to his fifty of just 22 balls hitting 5 fours and 3 sixes. Chahal removed Lankan skipper Chandimal by disturbing the stumps to bring Indian back in the game.

Perera wicket keeps India in the hunt

Sri Lanka brought their 100 in the 10th over of the innings with just 3 wickets down. 13th over from Sundar gave India the prized scalp of Perera who failed to read a flighted one from the spinner and was stumped by Karthik. He just gave 1 run in the over to put Sri Lanka under some pressure.

Indians bring the game under their control with economical overs but the initial bursts from Perera meant that they were always in the game. Thisara Perera’s two blows, a six and four off Unadkat in the 17th over brought the game well under control of Sri Lanka.

They eventually chased down the target with 9 balls to spare Thisara Perera smacked the winning runs, winning the first game of the series for Sri Lanka.

Tags: India, Kusal Perera, Nidahas Trophy, Sri Lanka, T20I