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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Train to Kashmir: 22-bogie train's trial run successful on Katra-Srinagar line
Jammu: A 22-bogie train chugged between Katra and Srinagar railway stations on Sunday, officials said, marking the first successful trial run on the newly completed line to connect Kashmir with the rest of the country via rail.
The train, comprising 18 AC coaches, two luggage carriers and two engines, left the Katra railway station at around 8 am, successfully reaching its destination within four hours under the watchful eyes of the railway authorities, the officials said.
This was the first trial run between Katra and Srinagar, and came within six days after the Commissioner of Railway Safety (Northern Circle) Dinesh Chand Deshwal authorised the opening of the newly constructed Broad Gauge line.
He had given the authorisation for the start of public carriage of goods and passenger traffic in a seven-page letter to the ministry and railway authorities, based on his detailed inspection of the track on January 7 and 8.
The CRS referred to his inspection of the newly constructed BG line between the Katra and Reasi section by a motor trolley and on foot, followed by a speed trial on the entire section from Katra to Banihal.
He had then authorised regular opening of the section for passengers and freight traffic at a maximum permissible speed of 85 Kmph on the main line and 15 Kmph on turnout.
The work on the dream project to link Kashmir by train was started in 1997 and it missed several deadlines given geological, topographical and meteorological challenges.
Out of the total 272 km Udhampur-Srinagar-Baramulla Rail Link (USBRL) project, 209 km was commissioned in phases with the first phase of the 118 km Qazigund-Baramulla section commissioned in October 2009, followed by 18 km Banihal-Qazigund in June 2013, 25 km Udhampur-Katra in July 2014 and 48.1 km long Banihal-Sangaldan stretch in February, last year.
The work on the 46-km Sangaldan-Reasi section was also completed in June last year, leaving a total of 17 km stretch between Reasi and Katra. And this section was finally completed in December 2024 as announced by the Railway minister Ashwini Vaishnaw.
On January 4, a successful trial run of an electric train was successfully conducted on the Katra-Banihal section. The railways has conducted six trials over the past month on various segments of the track, including the two major milestones of the Anji Khad and Chenab bridges.
Katra-Srinagar Rail Link: First 18-Coach Train Completes Trial Run Successfully pic.twitter.com/p68axcUClX
— Daily Excelsior (@DailyExcelsior1) January 19, 2025
