Suryakumar leads from the front as India go 1-0 up

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

Gill and Jaiswal lay down a marker

Jaiswal’s intent upset Sri Lanka and their plans to introduce spin early. He welcomed Maheesh Theekshana with a clean hit for six over long-off and followed it with a ferocious slog sweep for four. In all, India scored 11 fours and three sixes in the powerplay during a 74-run first-wicket stand before Dilshan Madushanka had Gill miscuing a lofted shot to mid-on for a 16-ball 34.

SKY offsets Sri Lanka’s double-strike

Gill’s wicket was followed by Jaiswal’s off the very next ball for a 21-ball 40, Wanindu Hasaranga having him stumped off a ripping googly. But Suryakumar was quickly into his element, moving inside the line to play the pick-up flick and find a boundary from just his second ball. He offered a chance on 15 when he top-edged a Madushanka bouncer in the eighth over, only for Asitha Fernando to drop the catch at fine leg. It would prove costly.

Pathirana leads Sri Lanka fightback

It took Pant a dropped catch – by Asitha at deep square leg – and 15 balls to find his first boundary. His next one, a helicopter shot over midwicket in the 16th over broke a 14-ball boundary-drought following Suryakumar’s dismissal. In fact, Pant barely managed to get out of second gear for much of his innings. Prior to his first six, he scratched his way 20 off 23. He made 29 off the next 10, eventually falling 49 while attempting to takedown Pathirana for a third boundary in a row.

Pathirana stuck to a simple mantra of bowling straight and fast, relying on a slight tail in to clean bowl Hardik and Pant, while dismissing Riyan Parag in the same way he did Suryakumar – lbw to a low-arm slinger as they missed full balls. Pathirana finished with 4 for 40 as India finished with 213 after being 135 for 2 after 12 overs.

The Nissanka-Mendis turbocharge

Sri Lanka kickstarted their chase in the third over as both batters got stuck into Axar’s drifters into the stumps. Nissanka cranked it up a notch when he hit Mohammed Siraj for two sixes in the fourth over, ramping him first over third man and then clubbing him over deep midwicket. Sri Lanka raised their fifty off 31 balls.

Hardik was welcomed with a bludgeon through point, Ravi Bishnoi swept and reverse-swept with disdain as he kept firing deliveries down leg. When Mendis got inside the line to mercilessly flick Arshdeep Singh into the grass banks in the ninth over, India were nervy. But off the next ball, the batter’s attempt to repeat the shot had him holing out to deep midwicket.

Sri Lanka’s counter-punch forced mistakes from India, Nissanka raising his half-century off 34 balls with an overthrow that gave him five runs. Nissanka’s exhibited his full range soon after, reverse-sweeping Axar, pouncing on anything dragged down and even improvising to get inside the line of length balls and swatting them over the ropes. But at 140 for 1, Nissanka chopped on attempting to cut. The slow walk back signalled a job unfinished.

Parag justifies selection

Siraj and Arshdeep had two overs apiece. With four overs left and India needing to defend 56, it seemed obvious Suryakumar would turn to his two frontline pacers. Instead he threw the ball to Parag, who had been picked ahead of Shivam Dube and Washington Sundar. And unlike Bishnoi and Axar, Parag slowed it down and gave it a rip.

After India got lucky with Dasun Shanaka’s wicket courtesy a run out made possible by Siraj’s athleticism at short third, Parag bowled Kamindu and gave away only five runs at a crunch moment. Then with Sri Lanka in a freewill and all but out needing 44 off six, he was given a second over, when he picked up Theekshana and Madushanka off successive deliveries to seal victory.