Hooda and Axar help India recover from collapse; India 162 for loss of five wickets, Sri Lanka suffer early setback

MUMBAI: Deepak Hooda's unbeaten 41 along with Axar Patel helped visitors set a 163-run target against Sri Lanka in the first T20I of the three-match series here at the Wankhede Stadium, in Mumbai on Tuesday.

In reply, Lanka did not get off to a good start. Nisanka (1) and Dhananjaya de Silva (8) were out quickly. Both were dismissed by Shivam Mavi who made his debut today.

Put into bat the Indian team got off to a flying start as wicket-keeper batter Ishan Kishan slammed 17 runs in the very first over. Maheesh Theekshana brought Sri Lanka back in the game by dismissing debutant Shubman Gill for leg before wicket as the hosts lost their first wicket for 27 in 2.3 overs.

Sri Lankan bowlers bowled tightly and did not allow Indian batters to score runs freely. This forced Suryakumar Yadav to push the current run rate and he perished by getting out to Chamika Karunaratne as India lost their second wicket for 38.

India managed to score only 41 in six overs. Dhanajaya de Silva dealt India with another blow dismissing Sanju Samson for 5 to leave them tottering at 46 for 3.

India scratched their way to 50 runs in 7.1 overs Hardik Pandya joined Ishan Kishan and the duo struck a partnership to help India score 75 runs in 10 overs.

Wanindu Hasaranga broke the 31-run partnership dismissing Ishan Kishan for 37 runs in 29 balls. Dilshan Madushanka dismissed skipper Hardik Pandya for 29 as India lost half of their side for just 94.

India reached the triple-figure mark in 15 overs. With India desperately needing a partnership Deepak Hooda and Axar Patel did exactly that. The duo put on 50 runs for the sixth wicket in just 28 balls. These two took India's total beyond the 150-run mark in 19.1 overs.

India went on to score 162/5 in 20 overs with Hooda scoring 41 runs off 23 balls hitting four sixes while Axar scored 31 off 20 balls.