'We were fortunate that there was no dew' - Suryakumar Yadav after India’s victory over Sri Lanka in first T20I

The newly-appointed India captain Suryakumar Yadav lauded the Sri Lanka players for their commendable effort with the bat in the second innings. Chasing 214 runs, openers Pathum Nissanka and Kusal Mendis were terrific and could have got the job done but the Indian bowlers pulled the strings at the right time and restricted the hosts to 170 runs. 

After the game, Suryakumar stated that the Men in Blue were lucky to not have dew in the second innings and mentioned that they were aware of how the wicket would play in the night. After a blistering start with the bat, Sri Lanka were looking like favourites but Axar Patel and Hardik Pandya did well in the middle overs to bring India back into the contest. Later, Riyan Parag and Arshdeep Singh picked up quick wickets to help the team take a 1-0 lead in the series.

“We were fortunate that there was no dew. The way we played in the World Cup, that reminded us that the game was still too far. They were playing a good brand of cricket from ball one. They were keeping the tempo, credit goes to them. We know how the wicket plays in the night,” Suryakumar was quoted as saying by NDTV.

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Meanwhile, Sri Lanka captain Charith Asalanka was not happy with how the middle order batted in the first T20I. Openers Nissanka and Mendis hit 79 and 45 runs, respectively to keep Sri Lanka in the hunt but ultimately, the middle order flopped, resulting in a heavy defeat.

The captain noted that with the ball, they were ‘not up to the mark’ in the powerplay but made a strong comeback in the second half. He also revealed that the management won’t be altering the middle order despite a poor show in the first T20I of the series.

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“We were not up to the mark in the powerplay, but in the latter part, we came back pretty strong. Some stage, we thought they might get to 240, we did well. Little disappointed with the way the middle-order batted, we could have done better. (On the balance of his side) It's an experiment, this is the way we should go in the future,” Asalanka said.