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The Indian cricket team kickstarted the Gautam Gambhir-Suryakumar Yadav era on a winning note on Saturday (July 27) despite a resolute show with the bat by hosts Sri Lanka. Winning by 43 runs, Indiatook a 1-0 lead in the three-match T20I series with an opportunity to seal the series on Sunday in the second T20I. Suryakumar Yadav was the top scorer for India having scored 58 off 26 while Rishabh Pant missed out on a fifty as he was dismissed for 49.

India starts on a winning note

Tasked to defend 214 in a high-scoring contest at the Pallekele International Cricket Stadium in Pallekele, the visitors were on the back foot as Sri Lanka got off to a great start. Pathum Nissanka’s 79 off 48 set the tone for the hosts while Kusal Mendis (45 off 27) was also on the money. The pair stitched a partnership of 84 runs for the opening wicket Arshdeep Sing got the better of Mendis. However, that was not enough to break the momentum for the hosts with Kusal Perera joining in the middle.

The pairput up a partnership of 56 runs for the second wicket and took Sri Lanka to the brink of the win before the Indian bowlers started to dominate. Both Nissanka and Perera were dismissed by Axar Patel which started the downfall of the hosts. Only Kamindu Mendis with 12 would get into double figures for Sri Lanka as the rest of the batters were dismissed for single-digit scores.

Sri Lanka quickly went from 140/1 to 170 all out, losing nine wickets in a span of 30 runs. Interestingly, Riyam Parag turned out to be the pick of the bowlers having ended with figures of 5/3 in his 1.2 overs. Arshdeep and Axar both ended with two wickets each while Mohammed Siraj and Ravi Bishnoi also bagged a wicket.

Earlier, India scored 213/7 in their 20 overs with Suryakumar top-scoring with 58 and Pant following on with 49. Yashasvi Jasiwal (40) and Shubman Gill (34) also got starts for India but could not convert into big innings. Matheesha Pathirana was the pick of the bowlers for Sri Lanka having ended with figures of 40/4 in his four overs.