Suryakumar, Bhuvneshwar star as India tame Lanka in T20 opener

Colombo - Suryakumar Yadav’s knock of 50 runs off 34 balls helped India score 164 runs for five wickets in 20 overs

Seam bowler Bhuvneshwar Kumar led a disciplined bowling performance as India hammered Sri Lanka by 38 runs in the opening Twenty20 international after a Covid scare at the stadium on Sunday.

Chasing 165 for victory, Sri Lanka were bowled out for 126 in 18.3 overs with Kumar returning figures of 4-22 in Colombo. India lead the three-match series 1-0.

Earlier skipper Shikhar Dhawan (46) and Suryakumar Yadav (50) guided India to 164-5 in 20 overs after being put into bat first.

A ground staffer at the R Premadasa Stadium tested positive for Covid-19 following a rapid antigen test, Sri Lanka Cricket said, before the hosts won the toss.

As a precaution, reporters and photographers were not allowed inside the 35,000 capacity ground where the white-ball series is being played.

Spectators were already barred from attending since the start of the three-match one-day series which India won 2-1.

Kumar struck with opener Avishka Fernando’s key wicket for 26 before the pace spearhead returned to wipe off the tail.

Pace partner Deepak Chahar took two wickets in one over including debutant Charith Asalanka for 44 to derail Sri Lanka’s chase.

Spinners Krunal Pandya, Yuzvendra Chahal, debutant Varun Chakravarthy and quick bowler Hardik Pandya took one wicket each.

But it was Dhawan and Yadav who set up the win with their 62-run third-wicket stand that helped India to a challenging total.

Dhawan, a left-hand opener who put on 51 for the second wicket with Sanju Samson (27), missed out on his fifty after being caught in the deep.

Yadav raised his second T20 fifty in his fourth match but got out next ball to leg-spinner Wanindu Hasaranga.

Hasaranga and pace bowler Dushmantha Chameera, who got Prithvi Shaw out first ball of the innings, claimed two wickets each.

The second T20 is on Tuesday at the same venue.

Scoreboard

India

P. Shaw c Bhanuka b Chameera 0

S. Dhawan c Bandara b Karunaratne 46

S. Samson lbw b Hasaranga 27

S. Yadav c sub (R. Mendis) b Hasaranga 50

H. Pandya c Bhanuka b Chameera 10

I. Kishan not out 20

K. Pandya not out 3

Extras (lb2, w6) 8

Total (5 wickets, 20 overs) 164

Did not bat: D. Chahar, K. Pandya, B. Kumar, Y. Chahal, V. Chakravarthy

Fall of wickets: 1-0 (Shaw), 2-51 (Samson), 3-113 (Dhawan), 4-127 (Yadav), 153-5 (H. Pandya)

Bowling: Chameera 4-0-24-2 (w2), Karunaratne 4-0-34-1 (w3), Dananjaya 3-0-40-0 (w1), Udana 4-0-32-0, Hasaranga 4-0-28-2, Shanaka 1-0-4-0

Sri Lanka (target 165)

A. Fernando c Samson b Kumar 26

M. Bhanuka c Yadav b K. Pandya 10

D. de Silva b Chahal 9

C. Asalanka c Shaw b Chahar 44

A. Bandara c H. Pandya 9

D. Shanaka st Kishan b Chakravarthy 16

W. Hasaranga b Chahar 0

C. Karunaratne b Kumar 3

I. Udana c Yadav b Kumar 1

D. Chameera c K. Pandya b Kumar 1

A. Dananjaya not out 1

Extras (w6) 6

Total (all out, 18.3 overs) 126

Fall of wickets: 1-23 (Bhanuka), 2-48 (De Silva), 3-50 (Fernando), 4-90 (Bandara), 5-111 (Asalanka), 6-111 (Hasaranga), 7-122 (Karunaratne), 8-124 (Shanaka), 9-125 (Udana), 10-126 (Chameera)

Bowling: Kumar 3.3-0-22-4 (w2), Chahar 3-0-24-2 (w1), K. Pandya 2-0-16-1 (w1), Chakravarthy 4-0-28-1, Chahal 4-0-19-1 (w2), H. Pandya 2-0-17-1

Toss: Sri Lanka

Result: India beat Sri Lanka by 38 runs

Series: India lead the three-match series 1-0

Umpires: Kumar Dharmasena (SRI), Raveendra Wimalasiri (SRI)

TV umpire: Ruchira Palliyaguruge (SRI)

Match referee: Ranjan Madugalle (SRI)