New captain Suryakumar shines as India thrash Sri Lanka despite Nissanka threat

Synopsis: Sri Lanka had two bowlers on song – the clever leg spinner Wanindu Hasaranga and the composed slinger Matheesha Pathirana. But what about the other 12 overs? India plundered 145 runs from those 72 balls to post 213, a total that proved beyond the reach of Sri Lanka.

Nissanka raises hopes

The heartwarming story of Nissanka’s rise continues to develop. Born in a poor family to a father who is a grounds boy at a cricket ground and a mother who sold flowers outside a temple, he was spotted and nurtured in time to become one of Sri Lanka’s new rising star openers. He became Sri Lanka’s first Test centurion on debut in 20 years and also the first Sri Lankan to hit a double hundred in ODIs.

On Saturday evening, Nissanka, whose name means hope, nearly stunned India with a series of feisty shots during a 48-ball 79. His pull off seamers is a clear highlight as Mohammad Siraj, Arshdeep Singh and Hardik Pandya all found out. But when he fell in the first ball of the 15th over, as an Axar Patel slider beat his intended cut and crashed into his stumps, the chase began to topple. At his exit, Sri Lanka needed 74 from 35 balls but couldn’t find the energy to cross over.

Pallekele: Sri Lanka’s Pathum Nissanka plays a shot during the first T20 International cricket match of a series between India and Sri Lanka at the Pallekele International Cricket Stadium, in Pallekele, Saturday, July 27, 2024. (PTI Photo/Kunal Patil)

Until then he had walloped every bowler and the best part of it was he hardly looked rushed despite the asking rate. But almost against the run of play, he made an error, choosing the wrong length to back away and cut a ball that he could have got on to the front foot perhaps. But such was the required rate then that the inevitable error propped up. But Nissanka would have made Gautam Gambhir and Suryakumar Yadav think if they would need to buttress their bowling options further in the next game. They did turn to the spin of Riyan Parag, after Nissanka’s exit, and he even picked up a wicket in his first over that went just for 5 runs. Parag, who had made 7 runs from 6 balls earlier, would roar, Gautam Gambhir, in his first game as India coach, would slap his hands in delight at the dugout, and a beaming Surykumar would hug the bowler, in his first game as India captain. Parag also bowled the last over of chase, with 44 runs to defend, and picked up two wickets off successive balls.

Surya trills on captaincy debut

Suryakumar had the toughest batting assignment of the day of an Indian as not only the openers Shubman Gill and Yashasvi Jaiswal, who had smashed 74 runs in just 6 overs, had fallen off successive deliveries, but Rishabh Pant was pinned down by the combo of Hasaranga initially and later by Pathirana. Hasaranga had taken down the imperious Jaiswal with a crafty slower-paced tossed-up googly that had him stumble out of the crease on the attempted push-drive and stumped, before he started to harass Pant with a series of googlies that the left-handed dasher struggled to pick. Suryakumar too had edged a legbreak to the vacant slips before he decided to tackle Hasaranga with his hard sweeps.

Suryakumar had got going with his trademark onside swats, as he targeted the left-handed seamer Madhushanka in the 8th over with his shimmies to the off-side and wristy swats that fetched him a six and couple of fours, though a boundary came dangerously close to being caught at fine-leg. He then crashed Hasaranga to a couple of swept boundaries before swat-pulling Patheerana for a six in the 12th over. The bowler though would have the final say with a screaming full skidder that flashed past the intended on-side whip to trap Suryakumar lbw, but by then the platform was set. The only question was if Pant could affect a jailbreak.

Pallekele: India’s Rishabh Pant slips his bat off during the first T20 International cricket match of a series between India and Sri Lanka at the Pallekele International Cricket Stadium, in Pallekele, Saturday, July 27, 2024. (PTI Photo/Kunal Patil)

Pant breaks free

Pant was dropped in the 13th over when Asitha Fernando missed a regulation catch at backward square-leg boundary, but he would finally break free in the 16th over off Asitha Fernando. He was on 20 from 23 balls when he unfurled a helicopter-swirl to dispatch a full toss over cow corner and sliced another full toss to point boundary. He would also later slap Patheerana through point and had his bat flying off his hands during an attempted whip-swat to the on-side but had the ball flying to fine-leg boundary. With contributions from others, that included a last-ball straight six from Axar Patel off Asitha, India finished on 213 but were given a scare by Nissanka, the left-handed opener.

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