India defeat Sri Lanka by 43 runs in opening T20 encounter

India defeated Sri Lanka by 43 runs in their first T20 of the three-game series. The newly-crowned T20 World Cup winners put up a target of 214 for their opponents, and performed strongly with the ball as well.

Pathum Nissanka (79 off 48) and Kusal Mendis (45 off 27) put up a strong showing for the Lankan Lions in the second innings. However, the Indian bowling attack took the crucial wickets at the right time to limit the damage and ultimately, bowl them out with four deliveries to spare.

India defeat Sri Lanka by 43 runs in first T20I of series

For leading from the front with the bat, #TeamIndia Captain Suryakumar Yadav becomes the Player of the Match 🏆👏

Scorecard ▶️ https://t.co/Ccm4ubmWnj… #SLvIND | @surya_14kumar pic.twitter.com/s2LGOFsrsw

— BCCI (@BCCI) July 27, 2024

Shubman Gill and Yashasvi Jaiswal got India off to a great start when they were asked to bat first. What seemed like a near-250 total was restricted to 213 following a strong four-wicket haul by Matheesha Pathirana.

However, new captain Suryakumar Yadav scored 58 runs in 26 balls while Rishabh Pant missed out on a half century by just one run to help India register a strong showing.

After a shaky start, India were able to keep Sri Lanka’s lower order in check by taking wickets at regular intervals to see the game through.