SL vs IND (Twitter)
India defeated Sri Lanka by 43 runs to take a 1-0 lead in the three-match series. Batting first, the Men in Blue played an aggressive brand of cricket as openers Shubman Gill and Yashasvi Jaiswal gave a perfect start. They stitched a partnership of 74 runs, which gave India a lot of momentum. Gill made 36 runs and Jaiswal hit 40 and after their dismissal, Suryaumar Yadav took care of the business.
The flamboyant batter hit boundaries for fun as he scored 58 runs off 26 deliveries. Later, Rishabh Pant did his part by scoring 49 runs as India posted 213 runs in the first innings. The lower-middle order failed to deliver and that will probably be India’s only concern from the first T20I.
When it came to the chase, the Lankan openers looked rock solid as they built an 84-run partnership. Kusal Mendis departed after scoring 45 runs while Pathum Nissanka hit 79 runs. However, after their dismissals, wickets fell like a house of cards as Sri Lanka were bundled for 170 runs, suffering a 43-run defeat. For India, Riyan Parag picked up three wickets in just eight balls while Axar Patel and Arshdeep Singh picked up two wickets each.
1. Suryakumar delivers on captaincy debut
Even though it wasn’t the first team Suryakumar led the national team but this marks the official beginning of him being the leader of the T20I team. However, the Mumbai-born cricketer was nowhere close to being nervous and played the same aggressive brand of cricket. He batted exceptionally well and gave momentum to India in the middle.
2. The approach remains the same
India didn’t change its approach under Gautam Gambhir, which is a positive sign. If they play the same aggressive brand of cricket, they will soon establish authority over all the other teams in the world.
3. Riyan Parag’s magic
Parag bowled just eight deliveries and picked up three wickets. India were desperately in the hunt for a batter who could bowl and Parag could be the right guy for it. However, batting it one area that the all-rounder needs to improve on.
Losing skipper Charith Asalanka said:
We were not up to the mark in the powerplay, but in the latter part, we came back pretty strong. Some stage, we thought they might get to 240, we did well. Little disappointed with the way the middle-order batted, we could have done better. (On the balance of his side) It’s an experiment, this is the way we should go in the future.
Winning skipper and POTM Suryakumar Yadav said:
They were playing a good brand of cricket from ball one. They were keeping the tempo, credit goes to them. We know how the wicket plays in the night. We were fortunate that there was no dew. The way we played in the World Cup, that reminded us that the game was still too far. (Left-right combination to be persisted?) Whatever works for the team, we’ll take the call.