Picture : BCCI/ X
Replacing legend Rohit Sharma as India’s new T20I skipper Suryakumar Yadav led from the front with a breathtaking half-century as India comfortably beat Sri Lanka by 43 runs in the opening T20 International to start the Gautam Gambhir era with a victory, in Pallekele, on Saturday.
Suryakumar’s 26-ball 58 and a 74-run opening blitzkrieg in the six overs of Powerplay between openers Yashasvi Jaiswal and Shubman Gill that took India to a mammoth 213 for 7 after being put in to bat.
Despite a fine batting effort from the Sri Lankans till the 15th over, the Indian bowlers did well enough to bowl out the home team for 170 in 19.2 overs.
India’s bowlers did remarkably well towards the back-end, utilising the slowness of the track to provide the team 1-0 lead in the three-match series. The spinners — Axar Patel, Ravi Bishnoi and rookie Riyan Parag — snared six of the 10 wickets.
From looking good on 140/1 in 14 overs at one stage, Sri Lanka suffered a stunning collapse in the last few overs, losing their last nine wickets for 30 runs in the space of 32 balls.
Kusal Mendis (45 off 27 balls) and Pathum Nissanka (79 off 47 balls) were not as brutal as their Indian counterparts. The 84-run opening stand was finally broken by Arshdeep Singh when Mendis couldn’t pick the slower one.
However, Nissanka didn’t lose tempo as Hardik Pandya (0/41 in 4 overs) was clearly not in his element, consistently missing his length, making it difficult for the new skipper to look for options.
Axar Patel (2/38 in 4 overs) was very flat at the onset but got the breakthroughs when it mattered the most, bringing all his experience into effect. Ravi Bishnoi (1/37 in 4 overs) is slowly becoming very predictable with hardly any leg-breaks to surprise the batters.
The right-handers knew that the deliveries will come into them and they got inside the line to out-manoeuvre the wrist spinner.
The absence of Jasprit Bumrah was evident and it was only the scoreboard pressure that helped the visitors prevail in the end once Axar’s arm ball got rid of Nissanka. He also got Kusal Perera (20) in the same over as the match decisively tilted in India’s favour.
Once Bishnoi dismissed rival skipper Charith Asalanka’s wicket, India completely gained control.
Skipper Suryakumar took a calculative punt of giving inexperienced Riyan Parag (3/5 in 1.2 overs) the 17th over and he removed Kamindu Mendis to justify his skipper’s faith. The ever-improving Arshdeep (2/24 in 3 overs) also got his share of scalps as part-time spinner Riyan claimed stunning figures of 3/5 in eight balls bowled, including wickets off the last two balls.
Earlier, Suryakumar was swift and brutal in equal measure on his first day in office as the Indian top-order plundered Sri Lankan bowling to post a commanding total after being put into bat.
While Suryakumar was at his dominant best while hitting eight fours and two sixes en route his 20th half-century, the foundation for the big score was laid by young stars Yashasvi Jaiswal (41 off 20 balls) and Shubman Gill (34 off 15 balls) in a 74-run opening stand in the powerplay.
Rishabh Pant (49 off 33 balls) struggled initially but did well to end just one short of a half-century with some audacious shots both in-front and behind the square.
The Sri Lankan pacers were erratic in their lengths on a slowish track but Hasaranga (1/28 in 4 overs) was fantastic as the visiting batters couldn’t really get going against him.
Matheesha Pathirana, despite getting some stick, landed perfect yorkers to end up with 4 for 40.
Match: 1st T20I
Venue: Pallekele | Date: July 27, 2024
