Deepak Hooda-Axar Patel break MS Dhoni and Yusuf Pathan's 13-year-old record against Sri Lanka

India defeated the Asian champions Sri Lanka by two runs in a last-ball thriller in the first T20I of the three-match series on Tuesday at Mumbai’s Wankhede Stadium. Sri Lanka won the toss and chose to bowl first, restricting the men in blue at 162/5 in 20 overs.

Team India were struggling at 94/5 before all-rounders Deepak Hooda and Axar Patel stitched a 68-run stand for the sixth wicket to get a defendable total. In response, Sri Lanka batted really well to close in on the target, with captain Dasun Shanaka's brilliant 45 off 27 balls but were bowled out for 160 in their stipulated 20 overs.

The pivotal partnership between Hooda and Axar proved to be the turning point for India. With their terrific partnership, the duo shattered MS Dhoni and Yusuf Pathan's record (against England in June 2009) in the list of highest sixth-wicket partnership for Team India in T20Is. Hooda-Axar now sit at the second spot in the list, just behind Virat Kohli and Hardik Pandya’s 70-run partnership against England at Narendra Modi Stadium in March 2021.

Man of the Match Hooda remained not-out on 41 off 23 balls which included four sixes and a four while Axar contributed an unbeaten 31 off 20 balls, hitting a maximum and three fours. Apart from the two, Ishan Kishan and Hardik Pandya played handy knocks for India. Ishan scored 37 off 29 balls while Pandya hit 29 off 27 balls.

Among Indian bowlers, pacer Shivam Mavi scalped four wickets in a fairytale start to his career for the Men in Blue. Umran Malik and Harshal Patel took two wickets each in the match.

The second T20I match between the two heavy weights India and Sri Lanka will be played on Thursday, January 05.

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