India secured a solid 43-run victory against Sri Lanka in the first match of T20I series held at Kandy’s Pallekele on Saturday.
Suryakumar Yadav & his team limited the hosts to a score of 170 after notching up 213 runs for the loss of 7 wickets.
Earlier, new captain Yadav played an impactful innings, achieving a notable half-century that helped push India past the 200 mark after being invited to bat.
Suryakumar hit 58 runs from just 26 balls, including two powerful sixes & eight stylish fours. He formed an essential partnership of 76 runs with wicketkeeper-batter Rishabh Pant, who contributed 49 runs.
Matheesha Pathirana, the fast bowler, took four wickets in total. This included crucial dismissals of both Suryakumar and Pant; however, he could not hinder India’s progress beyond the 200 mark due to an off day in fielding from the home side.
Yashasvi Jaiswal provided a fiery start with his score of 40 off just 21 balls. Shubman Gill followed suit with a score of 34. Together, they added an impressive 74 runs within the first six overs.
However, both openers were dismissed quickly—Gill was out first by Dilshan Madushanka; shortly after, leg-spinner Wanindu Hasaranga caught Jaiswal stumped on his very first delivery.
Suryakumar then steadied the innings and delivered a strong offensive performance featuring eight fours alongside two sixes during his partnership with left-handed Pant.
Pathirana, often referred to as “Baby Malinga” because of his slinging bowling style & yorkers similar to those of former Sri Lankan star Lasith Malinga, got Suryakumar lbw after he reached his fifty off just 22 balls.
Pathirana followed this by bowling out both Pandya and Pant as well.
When Sri Lanka began their pursuit, they started quickly and at one point seemed to be comfortably ahead with Pathum Nissanka leading their charge.
Kusal Mendis scored swiftly, managing 45 runs in just 27 balls before being dismissed by Arshdeep Singh. Kusal Perera was the second wicket to fall for Sri Lanka when they had tallied just 140 runs, while Nissanka departed soon after his innings.
Nissanka made a valiant effort with his score of 79 runs off 48 balls which featured four sixes along with seven fours.
Yet Sri Lanka’s batting fell apart dramatically as they lost seven wickets for a mere 12 runs.
Riyan Parag impressively took three wickets for only five runs. Both Arshdeep & Axar Patel chipped in with two wickets each.
Upcoming Matches
Ind vs SL 2024
2nd T20 Sunday and July 28th 7 PM IST at Pallekele
3rd T20 Tuesday and July 30th 7 PM IST at Pallekele
