IND vs SL, 1st Test: India 162 for 5 (Hooda 41*, Axar 31*) beat Sri Lanka 160 (Shanaka 45, Mavi 4-22) by two runs

Late runs from Deepak Hooda and Axar Patel and exceptional seam bowling from an Indian attack without Jasprit Bumrah, Arshdeep Singh, and Mohammed Shami helped India win a low-scoring thriller. The Wankhede surface was not the batting mecca that it typically is in Twenty20 cricket: Sri Lanka made good use of the spinners’ grip before India’s quicks were caught by the new ball.

India got off to a good start thanks to Ishan Kishan, but the spinners came back with nines for 57 runs and three wickets. Hooda and Axar then added 68 in 5.5 overs to take India to 163. Hardik Pandya, along with debutants Shivam Mavi, Umran Malik, and Harshal Patel, helped India’s fast bowlers on the same surface.

Through captain Dasun Shanaka’s 45 off 27, Sri Lanka made a brief comeback from 68 for 5, but Axar defended 12 in a last-over gamble.

HIGHLIGHTS

Theekshana, Hasaranga slow India down

India used only one anchor batter, debutant Shubman Gill, against KL Rahul, Virat Kohli, and Rohit Sharma. After scoring 26 in the first two overs, Kishan got them rolling, but the masters got to work. With his subtle variations putting him in even more danger, Theekshana hardly bowled anything to pull or drive. Gill chose a carrom ball, but it skidded on the leather at an angle to trap him in the back.

Suryakumar Yadav finally batted at No. 6 and needed a big sixth to save the powerplay. 3, the first ramp he attempted was stopped by cue. From the surface, this seam-up delivery had slowly emerged.

Shanaka cleverly slipped in an over of Dhananjaya de Silva before introducing Hasaranga, looking at the grip that was available. Sanju Samson was caught at short third man by de Silva’s mistiming of two slogs in that over.

The partnership between Kishan and Pandya then saw Hasaranga spin his web. After going from 17 off 8 to 36 off 27, Kishan eventually felt the need to slog-sweep everything. Hasaranga makes sure he picks up wickets when that happens. Kishan was caught at deep midwicket by a wrong’un.

India had lost half their team for less than 100 when the returning Dilshan Madushanka cramped Pandya and ran away.

Hooda, Axar give India the finishing kick

It began with Theekshana’s first loose ball. In the 16th over, Theekshana dragged down an attempted wrong’un, probably in an effort to escape the spell. With that pulled six, Hooda started moving. And what do you know? Hooda picked it up over midwicket for another six after Theekshana responded with driving length for the first time. At the end, Hasaranga had an over, and Hooda pulled a six from him as well as he went flatter to get out of that over.

Kasun Rajitha and Madushanka shut out well however India 34 off the last three. Hooda scored 41 off 23, while Axar scored 31 off 20.

Surprised to see Axar bowling the final over? Here's Captain @hardikpandya7 revealing the reason behind the move. #INDvSL #TeamIndia @mastercardindia pic.twitter.com/dewHMr93Yi

— BCCI (@BCCI) January 3, 2023

Fiery start from India

Pandya found movement off the surface when he bowled the first over. Since Malik and Harshal rarely stand the seam up, it made sense to share Mavi’s new ball. Mavi bowled Pathum Nissanka’s fifth international cricket ball with seam movement back in. Pandya then bowled a short over, and Mavi got de Silva’s wicket, caught at mid-on.

With high pace and precise radar, Malik maintained the pressure while Pandya bowled through the powerplay. Kishan ran back to take advantage of Charith Asalanka’s top-edged pull with a spectacular dive. It was fortunate for Harshal that Kusal Mendis timed a cut so perfectly that it went straight to deep cover. However, his second wicket of Bhanuka Rajapaksa early into a shot was pure deception.

Shanaka threatens India

Shanaka appeared to be playing on a different surface amid all of that. He hit everything perfectly right away. At the point when Hasaranga got him together with two progressive trudge cleared sixes off Yuzvendra Chahal in the fourteenth over, Sri Lanka were well and genuinely back with 56 required off the last six.

India’s depth of bowlers came in handy at this point. With 47 runs off four overs of spin thus far, they could have decided to bowl no spin at all. Mavi returned to catch Hasaranga mid-off. Malik came back to catch Shanaka at extra cover.

The final twist

With 29 required off the final two and two wickets remaining, it appeared to be over, but Harshal bowled an average 19th over to allow Sri Lanka to return. Karunaratne was able to reduce the score to 13 off the final over thanks to a no-ball, a wide, two full tosses, and a half-tracker.

ALSO READ: SL vs IND: Bumrah back on the team

Around the 19th over’s final ball, two strange things happened. Rajitha would go on strike at the beginning of the next over if Karunaratne didn’t get the single off the last pitch. After that, Pandya asked Axar to bowl the final over because he still had one over left but had cramps earlier. Karunaratne started the game with a six to make it five from three. However, Axar only conceded singles off the final two balls, preventing him from getting under the ball, and got a dot with a wide ball.