Domination Continues

India Brush Aside Sri Lanka With A 38-Run Win, Surya Hits 50

- Gaurav Gupta

Bouncing back from their de-feat in the final ODI, India outplayed Sri Lanka by 38 runs in the opening T20 International at the R Premadasa Stadium on Sunday night, taking a 1-0 lead in the series.

A superb half-century by the in-form Suryakumar Yadav (50, 34b, 5x4, 2x6) and a 46-run knock (36b, 4x4, 1x6) by skipper Shikhar Dhawan helped India put up 164 for five as Sri Lanka put in a decent performance with the ball after electing to field first.

However, a shoddy performance by the bat, bar Charith Asalanka, who smashed a quickfire 44 (26b, 3x6, 3x4) on his debut, saw the hosts crash to 126 all out in the 19th over. Asalanka showed some fight as he struck a few big blows, but once paceman Deepak Chahar had him caught at deep mid wicket and then castled Wanindu Hasaranga in a double-strike in the 16th over, India had the game in the bag.

While Bhuvneshwar Kumar picked four for 22, the pick of the Indian bowlers was leg-spinner Yuzuvendra Chahal, who bowled 10 dot balls while giving away just 19 runs in four overs. The way he castled a bamboozled Dhananjaya de Silva with a ‘jaffa,’ which pitched near leg stump but went on to kiss the off stump, was excellent, displaying the high quality of this world-class bowler.