Bilateral series for visually impaired: India win first T20 against Sri Lanka

Colombo: India beat Sri Lanka by 7 wickets in the first T20 match to take a 1-0 lead in the 5 match series. For the first time in the series, India won the toss and asked Sri Lanka to bat. The Indian bowlers justified the captain’s decision to bowl first as they restricted the hosts to a below-par score of 168 in the allotted 20 overs.

Chasing the target, India got off to a steady start and were always ahead of the game. A 3rd consecutive half-century on the tour from all-rounder Sunil Ramesh, a B3 player from Karnataka, orchestrated the visitors' comfortable seven-wicket victory. Sunil scored a quick half-century (52 runs) off 32 balls. He also bagged one of the crucial wickets of the match which earned him the ‘Man of the Match' award. The Indian Captain, Ajay Reddy, remained unbeaten on 25 while Ganesh scored 34 runs.

Man of the Match Sunil Ramesh in action (PC:thepapare.com)

With this result, India lead the series 1-0 with four games remaining. The world champions will try and extend their lead when they take the field again tomorrow in the 2nd T20.

The second T20 match is scheduled for tomorrow followed by which the teams will take a two-day break before playing the third T20 match which is scheduled for 23rd July.

The BRC Ground is the venue for the match. Will India stay in the lead or will Lanka even things up? It remains to be seen.

Brief scores: Sri Lanka 168/8 in 20 overs (Ruwan 39, Chandana 24 , Naresh 1/22)

India 169/3 in 19.1 overs (Sunil 52*, Ganesh 34, Ajay 25*)

India beat Sri Lanka by 7 wickets.

Man of the Match: Sunil