Ishan Kishan, Shreyas Iyer take India to 199-2 against SL in 1st T20
Lucknow, Feb 24: Opener Ishan Kishan sizzled with a blistering 56-ball 89 before Shreyas Iyer blazed his way to a whirlwind unbeaten 57 as India posted a challenging 199 for 2 against Sri Lanka in the opening T20I of the three-match series here on Thursday.
The left-handed batter, who failed to capitalise on his starts in the preceding white-ball series against West Indies, finally lived up to his multi-million dollar IPL tag with a whirlwind innings studded with 10 hits to the fence and three sixes.
The 23-year-old from Jharkhand forged a 111-run innings for the opening wicket with his skipper Rohit Sharma (44 off 32) to put India on course for a formidable total after being invited to bat first.
Iyer then grabbed the opportunity with both hands, smashing five fours and two sixes in 28 balls to take India to a huge total.
Ishan Kishan was the aggressor among the two openers as he exploded in the third over, making Chamika Karunaratne pay for erring in his line and length with three boundaries as India amassed 15 runs from the over.
Lahiru Kumara bowled with a lot of pace but Ishan came up with two good-looking shots -- one a pull on the front foot which went over the ropes and the other one a flick across the mid-wicket boundary.
Left-arm spinner Praveen Jayawickrama was next hammered for a four, while a short ball from Chameera was deposited into the stands as Kishan continued his demolition act which yielded 58 in the powerplay.
Sri Lanka was also guilty of dropping Ishan with spinner Jeffrey Vandersay spilling him on his own bowling in the 7th over.
The left-hander soon went on to score his second T20 fifty as India amassed 98 off 10 overs.
Playing second fiddle, skipper Rohit ran the ones and twos hard and picked up two fours along with a cracking slog-sweep over mid-wicket for a six.
Six runs short of a half-century, Rohit was done in by a slow delivery from Lahiru Kumara in the 12th over as as Sri Lanka tried to put breaks.
Ishan Kishan got another reprieve when he had edged one from Vandersay and the ball made its way to the boundary.
After two tight overs, Kishan slapped one over long-on for a maximum and then sent Lahiru Kumara across the third man and deep mid-wicket boundaries as India racked up 17 runs.
Sri Lanka's agony was escalated by their pedestrian bowling in the death overs as Shreyas Iyer took them to the cleaners with the last three overs yielded 44 runs.
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'Rear-guard action': BJP over Mamata accepting sports minister's resignation after Messi event
New Delhi (PTI): The BJP on Tuesday alleged that West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's accepting Aroop Biswas' resignation as the state sports minister is nothing but a "rear-guard action" to douse public anger over the mismanagement of football icon Lionel Messi's event last week.
BJP co-in-charge for West Bengal Amit Malviya alleged that this is also an "open confession" that the Messi event fiasco was not accidental but a government-manufactured disaster, borne out of the poor governance of Banerjee, her ministers and the state bureaucracy.
Banerjee on Tuesday accepted Biswas' resignation as the sports minister in the wake of the controversy over the mismanagement of football icon Messi's event last week, a senior leader of the ruling TMC said.
Biswas, who had written to the chief minister seeking to be relieved of his responsibilities as sports minister, will continue as a cabinet minister, retaining charge of the power department.
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Reacting to the development, Malviya said in a post on X, "TMC Sports Minister Aroop Biswas resigns after the Messi fiasco and Mamata Banerjee accepts it in record time."
"Do not mistake this for accountability; this is nothing but a rear-guard action to douse public anger. anger! This is not 'Raj Dharma'," he added.
The BJP leader alleged that the incident was the outcome of "loot" of common people which is "so synonymous" with the TMC.
The incident was also the outcome of the "shameless VIP culture that TMC thrives on and deep-rooted cronyism promoted by Banerjee," he charged.
Malviya further alleged that Biswas' resignation exposes a "collective failure of Mamata Banerjee, her partisan bureaucracy, and her crony cabinet".
"This is a symbolic sacrifice, a political hoax, soon to be buried under layers of bureaucracy, with no justice, no accountability, and no remorse," the BJP leader said, adding, "No resignation will bring back the time lost, the money wasted, or the stolen chance for football lovers to witness Messi in Kolkata."
