IND vs SL: Team India cruise to 7-wicket win over Sri Lanka in Indore to take 1-0 series lead

Team India cruised to a 7-wicket win over Sri Lanka with 16 balls to spare on Tuesday (January 7) at the Holkar Stadium in Indore.

With this victory, the 'Men In Blue' also secured a 1-0 lead in the three-match T20I series.

Upon winning the toss, India skipper Virat Kohli opted to bowl first.

Lankan openers Avishka Fernando and Danushka Gunathilaka got off to a decent start before Washington Sundar provided India with a key breakthrough in the 4th over by removing Avishka (22) and reducing the visitors to 38/1.

Pacer Navdeep Saini also got involved soon after and removed Gunathilaka (20) in the 7th over.

Wicketkeeper-batsman Kusal Perera came in and tried to stead the ship for the tourists by forming a partnership with Oshada Fernando.

However, star spinner Kuldeep Yadav threw a spanner into their work as he got rid of both the batsmen in quick successions. First, it was Fernando (10) who got stumped by Rishabh Pant soon after which Perera (34) was also sent back to the pavilion.

Virat brought Saini came back into the attack and he removed Bhanuka Rajapaksa (9) to finish his spell with a figure of 2 for 18.

Shardul Thakur also rained hell in his final over as he picked up three wickets from his allocated four overs.

 Dhananjaya de Silva (17),  Isuru Udana (1) and skipper Lasith Malinga (0) all fell victims of Thakur's change of pace as he finished the match with a bowling figure of 3 for 23. 

Jasprit Bumrah also bagged a wicket on his return to the national side after successfully recovering from his injury which kept him out of action for almost 3 months.

Team India's bowling attack was too much for the visitors on the day as Sri Lanka finished on 142/9 from 20 overs.

In chase of 143, KL Rahul and Shikhar Dhawan gave India a flying start.

Rahul played a quick-fire knock of 45 runs off 32 balls while Dhawan opted for a slower innings of 29-ball 32 before Wanindu Hasaranga removed both of them for Sri Lanka.

Shreyas Iyer got a promotion to bat at the No. 3 spot by skipper Virat Kohli who himself came to bat at No. 4.

Kohli and Iyer formed a quick partnership and kept raining hell on the Lankan bowlers by hitting big shots at regular intervals.

However, Lahiru Kumara removed Iyer in the final moments of the game as Rishabh Pant came out to bat.

Virat finished the match in style by bringing up the winning runs with a sixer as India cruised to a 7-wicket win in 17.3 overs.

The two sides will meet again in Mumbai for the third and final match of the series on Friday (January 10).