Sri Lanka and India clashed against each other in the 1st match of the 3-match T20I series on July 27 at the Pallekele International Cricket Stadium in Pallekele. The Men in Blue displayed a magnificent all-round performance to thrash the Sri Lankan team by 43 runs. Gautam Gambhir's stint started with a win, just like how he would have wanted it to be.
Talking about the match, Sri Lankan captain Charith Asalanka won the toss and invited the Indian batters to put runs on the scoreboard. Indian openers Shubman Gill and Yashasvi Jaiswal provided a great start to the team, scoring 74 runs in the powerplays. Suryakumar Yadav scored 58 runs off 26 balls, while Rishabh Pant scored 49 runs off 33 balls. It was Matheesha Pathirana who took four wickets and conceded 40 runs.
Also WATCH: Rishabh Pant's bat flies off his hand, still gets 4 runs against Matheesha Pathirana
When Sri Lanka came to bat, the openers started on a good note but couldn't convert it. At one point, they were 140 for 2 at the end of 13 overs. From that, they kept losing wickets and eventually lost the match by 43 runs. For India, the surprise element was Riyan Parag, who came to bowl after the 15th over and claimed three wickets.
We spoke about having good communication: Shubman Gill
Shubman Gill, India's vice-captain, spoke about the team's communication and how the guys complement each other. He played well today, giving India a great start along with Yashasvi Jaiswal. The left-right combination is suiting the Indian side and they'll continue with that in the upcoming matches.
"Not really (panicked). We spoke about having good communication and we knew we just needed one wicket (when SL were 140/1). It is great batting with him (Jaiswal) and we complement each other. Our style is different, our plan is simple - assess the conditions and then take on the bowlers. When you are opening the innings, see how the pitch is behaving and play accordingly (that's the plan)," said Shubman Gill.
Great start by captain Surya 🙌💪
— Sankott (@Iamsankot) July 27, 2024
Riyan Parag took 3 wickets lmao 😂
— Hassan Siddiqui (@HassanDude77) July 27, 2024
Sri Lanka started well but could not take that movement till the end
— Abdul Haq (@AbdulHaqbozdar) July 27, 2024
We 🇮🇳 will win T20 World Cup 2026 as well 👍
— Pankaj (@Pankaj_1238) July 27, 2024
Abhishek Sharma and Rutu Gayakwad on bench and Bhumrah, Kuldeep is on rest 🔥
Congratulations team India ❤️ 🇮🇳
— Devesh Malvankar (@DMalvankar90618) July 27, 2024
The Gautam Gambhir era starts with a win! He's meeting Sri Lanka legend and coach Sanath Jayasuriya 🇮🇳🔥🔥#tapmad #HojaoADFree #SLvIND pic.twitter.com/yYS6bjT2w4
— Farid Khan (@_FaridKhan) July 27, 2024