DREAM DEBUT - Mavi stars in India’s two-run win over Sri Lanka

MUMBAI: Shivam Mavi made a dream debut with a relentless display of fast-bowling as his four-wicket haul made the difference in India’s narrow two-run win over a spirited Sri Lanka in the first T20I here on Tuesday.

India batters found the Sri Lankan spinners hard to put away before Deepak Hooda (41 not out off 23) and Axar Patel (31 not out off 20) took the host to 162 for five.

The Sri Lankans surely had the firepower to chase down 163 but Mavi’s strikes at front and back end of the innings tilted the game in favour of the home team. The game went down to the wire with spinner Axar Patel managing to defend 13 runs in the final over. Mavi ended with envious figures of four for 22 in four overs.

The fighting knocks from skipper Dasun Shanaka (45 off 27) and Chamika Karunaratne (23 not out off 16) went in vain as Sri Lanka ended 160 all out in 20 overs. This is the lowest total India defended at this stadium.

Skipper Hardik Pandya decided to bowl the first over and the pressure created by him helped debutant Mavi at the other end. Hardik bowled full tilt and hardly gave anything away, conceding only 12 runs in his three-over spell.

Mavi’s moment to cherish came in his first over as he showed remarkable composure to strike back after being hit for two fours by Kusal Mendis. Having already got a life in Hardik’s first over, Pathum Nissanka had no clue about Mavi’s beauty of a delivery that jagged back in to shatter the stumps.

In his second over too, Mavi got hit for a couple of fours before he had Dhanajaya de Silva caught at mid-on.

It became 47 for three in eighth over when Ishan Kishan took a brilliant catch running backwards after Charith Asalanka mistimed a pull off Umran Malik.

Pacer Harshal Patel got lucky with his first wicket as a dangerous looking Mendis found the deep point fielder before getting rid of Bhanuka Rajapaksa with a slower ball, leaving Sri Lanka struggling at 68 for five in the 11th over. Hardik had to leave the field briefly after taking Rajapaksa’s catch.

Hasaranga and skipper Shanaka made the game interesting with a quickfire 40-run stand off 23 balls. Hasaranga put the pressure back on the Indians by smashing Yuzvendra Chahal for back-to-back sixes over mid-wicket, reducing the equation to a very gettable 56 runs off 36 balls.

Earlier, Hooda and Axar shared an unbeaten 68-run stand off 38 balls for the sixth wicket after India found itself at a shaky 94 for five at the high-scoring Wankhede Stadium.

Playing his first international innings since the double hundred in Bangladesh, Kishan (37 off 29) went ballistic in the first over itself that yielded 17 runs.

BRIEF SCORES: India 162/5 in 20 overs (D Hooda 41*) bt Sri Lanka 160 in 20 overs (D Shanaka 45, S Mavi 4/22)