‌SL vs IND | Pathirana's four-for in vain as all-round India earn maiden win under coach Gambhir

Luck favored Sri Lanka’s new skipper Charith Asalanka during the toss and sent the Indian contingent to bat first. Yashasvi Jaiswal and Shubman Gill started from where they left off in Zimbabwe as the duo tonked the opposition bowlers left, right, and centre. They were 36/0 halfway through the field restrictions before 15-run overs each from Asitha Fernando and Dilshan Madushanka culminated in a 74-run powerplay. However, Gill departed on the last ball of the sixth over and his partner quickly followed suit, leaving Suryakumar Yadav and Rishab Pant fresh on the crease. While the former continued the assault with a 26-ball 58, the introduction of Matheesha Pathirana helped Lanka peg back the Indians with Surya and Hardik Pandya’s wickets coming in the space of 19 balls. With the score reading 192/4 in 18 overs and Pant going strong, Pathirana outsmarted Riyan Parag and the wicketkeeper-batter in the next over to claim his four-for. However, a six on the last ball by Axar steered India to 213/7 in 20 overs.

In response, Sri Lanka kicked off their chase on a high after a couple of watchful overs. Kusal Mendis and Pathum Nissanka charged after the Indians, gathering 55 runs inside the powerplay. The assault continued till the ninth over when Arshdeep Singh removed Mendis for 45. With Sri Lanka reaching 99 in ten overs, the opener switched gears, helping extract 41 runs in the next four overs before Axar Patel cleaned up Nissana (79) and Kusal Perera in the 15th over, followed by Ravi Bishnoi getting Charith Asalaka. The hosts required 56 off the last four overs but Lanka lost four wickets in the next 17 balls to curtail the equation to 44 needed off seven balls. Riyan Parag cleaned up the tail in the final overt to leave Sri Lanka short by 43 runs.

pic.twitter.com/cFKeHIpVoe

— Gill Bill (@bill_gill76078) July 27, 2024

Ended it with wicket

Ravi Bishnoi 🥹

And he ended his Spell with a Wicket!#INDvSL pic.twitter.com/PYL18r8qNd

— 𝑺𝒉𝒆𝒃𝒂𝒔 (@Shebas_10dulkar) July 27, 2024

Did it well

"He bowled in every phase of the match"



Did it in death overs today🙏#INDvSL https://t.co/hrFoLyzxXl pic.twitter.com/QDdBXO7eGd

— Varun Giri (@Varungiri0) July 27, 2024

Unpredictable game

Cricket is such an unpredictable game. Who thought parag will be the highest wicket taker. India should drop Siraj so that he can reflect back and found his form.#BCCI#INDvSL

— Bijaya N Senapati (@bsenapati27) July 27, 2024

Pretty big win

India take a 1-0 lead in the three-match series with a pretty big win.🇮🇳🇮🇳#INDvSL #OpeningCeremony pic.twitter.com/D7F69gWmPH

— Krishnakant Yadav (@krishnYadavv) July 27, 2024

Death overs

Riyan Parag: 1.2-0-5-3🔥🔥



He bowled on the 17th & 20th over🫡🫡#INDvSL #riyanparag #CricketTwitter #CricketUpdate #cricketnews pic.twitter.com/F2wiAylfM4

— Akshit Bhardwaj (@CricwithAkshit) July 27, 2024

Smiling coach

A smiling Gautam Gambhir after the win. 😄#INDvSL pic.twitter.com/YIVIwk7BUP

— Navaneet yadav (@Navaneet6yadav) July 27, 2024

Unbelievable

Suryakumar Yadav is in unbelievable touch. 😍#SportsUpdate #Captain #T20I #SuryakumarYadav

the Greatest of All 🐐 #TeamIndia |

#ViratKohli𓃵 #RohitSharma𓃵#Bcci #INDvSL #T20Cricket pic.twitter.com/SCpUSKSL1Q

— Santu (@Hatmodesantu) July 27, 2024

Good fight

3 Wickets for Riyan Parag 😮



India Won by 43 runs 💥

A Good Fight by Srilanka till 16th over 👏#INDvSL pic.twitter.com/6sWLCiVG5A

— VikashBishnoii INC (@vikashbishnoi45) July 27, 2024

Captain fantastic

SuryaKumar Yadav is a fantastic captain :



- Bowls Riyan Parag in 17th over and Riyan takes wicket in it.

- Plays with 5 bowling option & still wins.

- leads from front by scoring a half century.



New T20I captain SKY is crazy! 🤣#SuryakumarYadav #INDvSL #OlympiacosFC… pic.twitter.com/XYzqu4fH3E

— Anil choudhary (@Anil_1025) July 27, 2024