Quick guide:
Sri Lanka vs India – 1st T20I Post match Analysis
India started the T20I series with a win. The win was influenced by the performances of Bhuvneshwar and Surya Kumar Yadav.
The turnaround of events happened towards the end of the game where the bowling unit were able to enforce a collapse and ensure India a win. SL were better at their bowling and successfully restricted India from putting up a big score on the board.
Read: A happy start for India in the T20I series
Let’s see the in which areas did the team performed better than the other in the following section.
Batting and Bowling Average in each Phase
| Team | Phase | Batting Average | Bowling Average |
| India | 1 – 6 | 51 | 46 |
| Sri Lanka | 1 – 6 | 46 | 51 |
| India | 7 – 15 | 26.33 | 13.4 |
| Sri Lanka | 7 – 15 | 13.4 | 26.33 |
| India | 16 – 20 | 34 | 3.25 |
| Sri Lanka | 16 – 20 | 3.25 | 34 |
Both the teams lost a wicket each in powerplay section and the average was 45+ for both the teams which is very decent. Both teams had a good start in their respective innings which needed to be capitalized in order to win the game/put a big total on board. In the middle overs, S.K.Y. rotated the strike well and gave enough control in India’s innings.
Powerplay Comparison
( 1 – 6 Overs )
Both the teams had a good start in the powerplay overs. India though lost the 1st wicket in the 1st ball of the match, but quickly recovered, credits to Dhawan and Samson’s partnership. They plundered Akila Danajaya’s 2 overs and managed to score 51 runs in the powerplay section at 8.5 RPO which is good run rate.
Sri Lanka on the other hand started of well, but Krunal Pandya made an early breakthrough and the last over of the PP bowled by Varun C proved to be vital in India’s bowling. Thus Sri Lanka’s aim of chasing 165 to win seemed possible after the powerplay overs as they scored at the decent run rate of 7.6.
Middle Overs Comparison
( 7 – 15 Overs )
Middle overs in T20 are very important as the fielders start moving towards the boundary lines more and the batters too, look to rotate the strike and steal the 1s and 2s to keep the score board moving.
India lost Samson the very 1st ball of the match in the middle overs. Surya Kumar Yadav stepped in at number 4 to join with Dhawan. They were rotating the strike well and scoring at a very brisk rate. In the 15th over, Dhawan got out for well made 46 runs and India scored 70 runs in the middle overs with the loss of 2 wickets. The run rate of 7.77 was maintained mainly due to the SKY’s presence.
Sri Lanka on the other hand lost 3 wickets and scored 61 runs in the middle overs. Indian bowlers bowled superbly as Bhuvneshwar, Chahal and Hardik took 1 wicket each and restricted Sri Lanka’s run rate to 7.4 which does not show much of a difference in comparison to India’s innings but it added to the pressure in the death overs.
Sri Lanka ended the middle overs at 113 – 6 with 52 runs needed at the death overs.
Death Overs Comparison
( 16 – 20 Overs )
India scored at 6.8 runs per over at the end because of some brilliant Yorkers at the death, mainly to Hardik. They also lost 1 wicket and couldn’t score 4’s and 6’s occasionally. They just managed to score one 4 and one 6 in the last 4 overs. This also indicated that Sri Lanka was prepared with their bowling plans to restrict India from scoring more in the last few overs.
On the other hand, Sri Lanka lost flurry of wickets and did not seem to be steady in the run chase. They scored just 13 runs and lost 4 wickets and were eventually bowled out. They scored at the run rate of 4.3. India dominated in the last 4 overs with their best bowlers hunting for a win. Bhuvneshwar Kumar’s special overs at the death ensured India a win.
Special Mentions
- Prithvi Shaw became the 3rd Indian Opener to get dismissed for a duck in a debut after Gambhir and Rahul.
- All Indian bowlers took 1 wickets each in the match. This is the 1st instance when bowling 2nd against Sri Lanka.
- India won 6 matches out of 10 matches when India were batting 1st against Sri Lanka.
- Bhuvneshwar Kumar’s bowling figures of 3.3-0-22-4, is also India’s 2nd best bowling figure at the RPS ground. It is also the 2nd best bowling figure against Sri Lanka.
~Karthick G (Stats analyst)
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