Suryakumar Yadav
Twitter

Colombo: India defeated Sri Lanka by 38 runs in the first T20 International here on Sunday.

Suryakumar Yadav top-scored for India with 50 off 34 balls while skipper Shikhar Dhawan made 46 off 36 as India made 164 for five.

In response, Sri Lanka were all out for 126 in 18.3 overs. Charith Asalanka was the top-scorer with 44 off 26 balls.

Bhuvneshwar Kumar took four wickets and Deepak Chahar picked up a couple.

Earlier, Suryakumar Yadav continued his rich vein of form with an another attractive half-century but Sri Lanka bowled well to restrict India to 164 for five.

Surya's second T20I half-century was complemented by useful contributions from skipper Shikhar Dhawan (46 off 38 balls) along with Ishan Kishan (20 not out off 14 balls) at the back-end.

Skipper Dhawan added 62 with Surya in eight overs to provide a solid launch-pad but the latter's dismissal surely cost India 20 extra runs.

But looking at the partnership, it was evident that the junior partner was batting in a more assured manner, having already sealed his place in the T20 World Cup team while the skipper is still fighting what looks like a losing battle to jostle inside that jam-packed top-order in the main squad.

There was a six over deep mid-wicket off Akila Dananjaya but the innings did lack the punch despite four more boundaries.

It was Surya's five fours and a six that really helped Kishan and Hardik to launch the final assault.

At the start, Prithvi Shaw had a forgettable T20 International debut as Dushmantha Chammera's (2/24 in 4 overs) outswinger found the edge of his bat off the very first delivery of the match.

Sanju Samson (27 off 20 balls) hit his customary six while batting like a millionaire before Wanindu Hasaranga (2/28 in 4 overs) trapped him with a googly.

Surya as usual was in his free-flowing self, hitting those whiplash on-drives, cover drives and ramp shots which is a sight to watch both against pacers and spinners.

However what was exhilarating was how Surya picked all those back-of-the-hand slower deliveries from seamers Isuru Udana and Chamika Karunaratne.

Udana was dispatched with a conventional sweep shot for boundary while Karunaratne was slog swept for a six.

When Hasaranga came for his last over, he went inside-out to loft him for a straight six to complete his fifty but the leg-spinner had the last laugh as he was not afraid to flight once more and this time the inside-out chip shot didn't have required wings to soar over the ropes.

His dismissal did rob India a chance to score 175 plus.


Scoreboard

India

P Shaw c M Bhanuka b Chameera 0

S Dhawan c A Bandara b C Karunaratne 46

S Samson lbw b W Hasaranga 27

S Yadav c R Mendis b W Hasaranga 50

H Pandya c M Bhanuka b Chameera 10

I Kishan not out 20

K Pandya not out 3

Extras: (lb-2, w-6) 8

Total: (For 5) 164

FoW: 0-1, 51-2, 113-3, 127-4, 153-5.

Bowling: Dushmantha Chameera 4-0-24-2,Chamika Karunaratne 4-0-34-1, Akila Dananjaya 3-0-40-0,Isuru Udana 4-0-32-0, Wanindu Hasaranga 4-0-28-2,Dasun Shanaka 1-0-4-0.

Sri Lanka

A Fernando c Samson b Bhuvneshwar 26

M Bhanuka c S Yadav b K Pandya 10

D de Silva b Chahal 9

C Asalanka c P Shaw b D Chahar 44

A Bandara b H Pandya 9

D Shanaka st I Kishan b Chakravarthy 16

W Hasaranga b D Chahar 0

C Karunaratne b Bhuvneshwar 3

I Udana c S Yadav b Bhuvneshwar 1

D Chameera c K Pandya b Bhuvneshwar 1

A Dananjaya not out 1

Extras: (w-6) 6

Total (All out in 18.3 Overs) 126

FoW: 1-23, 2-48, 3-50, 4-90, 5-111, 6-111, 7-122, 8-124, 9-125

Bowling: Bhuvneshwar Kumar 3.3-0-22-4, Deepak Chahar 3-0-24-2, Krunal Pandya 2-0-16-1, Varun Chakravarthy 4-0-28-1, Yuzvendra Chahal 4-0-19-1, Hardik Pandya 2-0-17-1.