Suryakumar leads from the front as India go 1-0 up
Sri Lanka were 140 for 1 in a chase of 214 but then lost nine wickets for 30 runs
Shashank Kishore
27-Jul-2024 • 4 hrs ago
Suryakumar Yadav hit a half-century in his first match as India's permanent T20I captain • Getty Images
India 213 for 7 (Suryakumar 58, Pant 49, Jaiswal 40, Pathirana 4-40) beat Sri Lanka 170 (Nissanka 79, Mendis 45, Parag 3-5, Arshdeep 2-24, Axar 2-38) by 43 runs
India's new T20I era under Suryakumar Yadav began on a winning note, even if it was jittery at various points in their defence of a big score. A spirited Sri Lankan batting unit, spearheaded by Pathum Nissanka and his free-stroking 79 left an Indian team playing with just five bowling options hanging onto crumbs of hope. One of them was scoreboard pressure. Sri Lanka had nine wickets in hand but they still needed 74 off 36.
Nissanka, reprieved a ball earlier by Ravi Bishnoi at deep midwicket, fell to Axar Patel to open the floodgates. India converted that opening into a double-strike when Kusal Perera fell four balls later. It would be the start of a sensational meltdown; Sri Lanka losing 9 for 30 in all to concede a game they would've backed themselves to win.
Full report to follow
Shashank Kishore is a senior sub-editor at ESPNcricinfo