Skipper Dasun Shanaka was striking the ball well and brought Sri Lanka within the distance of the Indian total in the first T20 game but it was in vain as the Indians recorded a thrilling two runs win.
The turning point of this match was the 17th over of the innings which was bowled by Umran Malik. The drama of the 17th over was highlighted by international TV coverage. The first ball of the 16th over saw Shanaka smashing a cut but straight towards the backward point and Hooda made the stop and there was a dot ball and the ball's speed was almost 149kph. The second ball was the short ball on the middle and leg while Shanaka pulled it over square leg all the way for a huge six. The third ball was once again a dot ball and it went for a Yorker just outside leg and went between Shanaka’s legs and wicket-keeper Ishan Kishan well caught behind the stumps and Umran Malik was appealing for the catch behind and India opted to review it.
After he sent the decision upstairs, the third umpire took his time with it and it appeared to get an inside edge onto his bat on the full and then bounce back immediately. After a long-awaited review, The third umpire also initially ruled it "not out".
The stoppage in play when a caught behind was reviewed saw Shanaka’s concentration disrupted as he mistimed one to extra cover off the next delivery and it was full outside off and Shanaka goes after it but he ended up hitting it straight to Yuzvendra Chahal at extra cover and that was bowled at 155kph.
The cricket experts said stoppage in play when a caught behind was reviewed saw Shanaka’s concentration disrupted as he mistimed one to extra cover off the next delivery. Actually, the Sri Lankan skipper has a superb record versus India in the recent past. His last four innings brought him 199 runs in 102 deliveries and the dismissal of Shanaka was a great favor for India's victory.
The two umpires of the match were Indians Anil Chaudhary and K.N.Anandapathmanaban (five ODIs and 19 T-20s) while the TV umpire was Indian Jayaraman Madanagopal who has a little International experience with four ODI’s and 19 T-20 as an umpire.
However, the blame cannot be laid on the umpire's decision but the point is that too much time was taken to review the decision and Shanaka’s concentration fizzled out as he was dismissed with the next delivery.
However, skipper Dasun Shanaka who hit 27 balls 45 with three fours and three sixes said really disappointed with the way Sri Lanka finished the opening T-20. "It was a game we should have won at Wankhede Stadium. At this venue, the batters need to cross the line easily, especially when you are chasing 163. Actually, we played well to restrict India to 162 in 20 overs and it was a great achievement. Our bunch of youngsters were very good. They will come back strongly in the next matches and Sri Lanka has a good chance to win the series in India," said skipper Shanaka.
The Sri Lanka team is expected to correct their mistakes and come back strongly and their first task is to level the series at Pune today while the next step is to win the series with the third and final T-20 game which is scheduled to be held on January 7 at Rajkot.
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