Shikhar Dhawan: Sri Lanka took the game away from us in the first six overs

03/07/2018

Shikhar Dhawan credited Kusal Perera’s stunning knock in the powerplay yesterday for the Lankan team's well-deserved victory in the opening match of the Nidahas Trophy. Perera smashed 27 off Shardul Thakur's first over, on the way to 75 in six overs, their highest ever powerplay score in T20Is.

The new-look Indian team were looking to build on their impressive display in the African continent as they traveled to Sri Lanka in order to play the Tri-nation Nidahas Trophy versus hosts Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. The selectors opted to rest the likes of MS Dhoni, Virat Kohli and Jasprit Bumrah, amongst others, and Rohit Sharma was chosen to lead the side.

They began their campaign yesterday in the opener against Sri Lanka but lost out to a dominant batting display from the home team courtesy of Kusal Perera. Indian opener Shikhar Dhawan, who narrowly missed out on a T20I century after he was dismissed at 90, credited the Lankans for making the most of the opening six overs.

"It was in the first six overs that they took the game away from us. After the first six overs even they weren't hitting the ball that frequently - it wasn't like 10 an over against the spinners in the middle overs. That's because the wicket was a little slow," Dhawan said to PTI sources.

Perera managed to hit make the most of the powerplay phase as he smashed 27 runs off Shardul Thakur in a single over to ensure the Lankans had a strong start.

"The way Kusal scored that 27 runs in that over, they were 75 after six overs, that made the difference,"

"They took two wickets in the first two overs and that did the damage. We could have been more aggressive if we wouldn't have lost wickets. We had to ensure we don't lose any more wickets and also score runs,"

"We were 10 runs short after six overs but I felt 174 was a good score but Kusal Perera took the game away by playing an amazing knock," Dhawan added.

On his own performance, Dhawan didn’t have much to say apart from the fact that he was a bit disappointed that he wasn’t able to reach a landmark century in the opening match.

"I have been playing very aggressive at the start, I know my game and that's how I have been playing. I have been scoring runs at a quick pace. I was disappointed that I couldn't score a century but at that time the team wanted to go after bowling, so I didn't care if I get a century or not. I am happy my consistency is going very good and I am enjoying it." Dhawan said.

Shikhar Dhawan: Sri Lanka took the game away from us in the first six overs

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