India 164 for 5 (Suryakumar 50, Dhawan 46, Chamira 2-24, Hasaranga 2-28) beat Sri Lanka 126 (Aslanka 44, Bhuvneshwar 4-22, Chahar 2-24) by 38 runs
As has been the case during the tour, Sri Lanka were decent with the ball, with India scoring 164 for 5, but their batting let them down once again. Between the end of the 5th and 16th overs, Sri Lanka scored only 69 runs and lost five wickets. Inevitably, with the likes of debutant Varun Chakraborty, and Yuzvendra Chahal delivering another excellent spell, Sri Lanka lacked the firepower to face a serious challenge.
Suryakumar Yadav makes it easy
Already one of India's best batsmen in ODIs, Suryakumar Yadav played a decisive innings in the first T20I, scoring the game's only half-century - with 50 from 34. Where others struggled for time on this surface, Yadav's batting was effortless. He smashed his wrists through wide long-on, hitting a boundary off his seventh ball. Later in that Wanindu Hasaranga over, he dodged a short ball at backward point for four runs. He read the slower balls and shoveled them over his shoulder for four, scorched the overpitched delivery through cover, and for his final two boundaries, rolled Isuru Udana to the corner of the cow, and completed his half-century. For launched Hasranga over his head. He was holed out in the 16th over on the next ball, but gave the backbone to India's innings.
Sri Lanka's link in the last overs!
At the end of the 12th over, 101 runs for 2 wickets and the two set batsmen at the crease (Shikhar Dhawan made 41 for 29 and Yadav scored 30 for 22) scored a total of 180 runs. But none of the last eight overs hit more than one four. And no one went for more than 10. The last two overs bowled by Dushmantha Chameera and Chamika Karunaratne were particularly good - Chamira caught Hardik Pandya behind and conceded only eight runs in the final over, before Karunaratne conceded nine in the 20th. Although the target of 165 was always going to test Sri Lanka, it did not seem out of reach. Chamira, who took 2 for 24 and Hasaranga, who took 2 for 28, were exceptional bowlers for the hosts.
Sri Lanka's middle-order struggle around debutant Aslanka
At the end of the powerplay, Sri Lanka were in pretty good shape at 46 for 1. But then came two quick wickets - Dhananjay de Silva bowled Chahal for 9 before Avishka Fernando scored 26 against Bhuvneshwar Kumar. And then, Sri Lanka fell largely in the middle overs, Charit Aslanka being the only exception. Ashen Bandara scored 9 runs in 19 balls. Dasun Shanaka hit only one four in 16 balls in his 14 balls.
Although Aslanka was excellent, hitting three sixes and three fours in 44 off 26 balls, he could not create enough ground for teammates, who could not score anywhere close to the target. Asalanka eventually ran to deep midwicket in the 16th over and was trying to hit another six.
Bhuvneshwar Kumar cleans his tail
Kumar was not far from taking a wicket on the first ball when Fernando's outside edge slipped over Prithvi Shaw. He later got Fernando caught at deep square leg in the eighth over, but it was in the closing overs that Kumar was most penetrating, which sealed the match for India. He took three of the last four to play the dangerous Karunaratne back to his stumps, before dismissing Udana and Chameera in the space of three balls in the 19th over. Barring Chahal, who took 1 for 19 in his four overs, being more economical than any of his teammates, he finished with the game's best figures of 4 for 22.