IND vs SL: Three biggest partnerships in T20Is
India will be hosting Sri Lanka in the three-match T20I series starting on January 3 followed by the three-match ODI series. Indian team suffered an embarrassing 2-1 ODI series defeat on the Bangladesh tour in their latest white-ball outing while Sri Lanka managed to draw 1-1 in the ODI home series against Afghanistan last month. The Sri Lankan team beat India in the latest encounter in the 2022 Asia Cup but they have lost three of their five T20I meeting against India.
Indian batters have always dominated this encounter with some big knocks in the recent T20Is. So, let’s take a look at the top three biggest partnerships in India-Sri Lanka T20Is so far.
3. 111 runs – Rohit Sharma and Ishan Kishan, February 2022
In the last bilateral T20I series between the two nations, Ishan Kishan smashed his best-ever T20I knock in the first T20I at Lucknow in February 2022. Indian openers Rohit Sharma and Ishan Kishan gave a quick start with a 111-run partnership for the first wicket in just 11.5 overs. Rohit scored 44 runs off 32 balls before losing his wicket but Ishan Kishan went on to smash 89 runs off 56 balls to help India score a big total of 199/2 runs while batting first.
2. 119 runs – Virat Kohli and Manish Pandey, September 2017
During India tour of Sri Lanka in September 2017, the Indian team recorded an impressive seven-wicket win while chasing a big 171-run target with just four balls remaining in only T20I in Colombo. After losing both the openers in powerplay overs, Indian captain Virat Kohli and Manish Pandey pulled off a remarkable 119-run partnership for the third wicket. Kohli smashed 82 runs off 54 balls before getting caught in the 19th over, and Pandey remained unbeaten at 51 runs off 36 balls.
1. 165 runs – Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul, December 2017
Indian team shattered records during the second T20I match against Sri Lanka at Indore in December 2017 when they recorded 260 runs, their biggest-ever T20I score. Indian openers Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul put in a record 165-run partnership for the first wicket in just 12.4 overs. Out of 165 runs, Rohit contributed 118 runs off just 43 balls at a strike rate of 274.41. In their reply, the Sri Lankan team was bowled out on just 172 runs to suffer a big 88-run defeat.
