India’s T20I captain Suryakumar Yadav led the side to a comfortable 43-run win over Sri Lanka in the first T20I of the three-T20I series. Suryakumar in his first T20I as Rohit Sharma’s successor as captain contributed with a blazing 26-ball 58 to help India post 213/7. As Sri Lanka suffered a batting collapse in last six overs and were bowled out for 170, Suryakumar was adjudged the ‘Player of the match’ and equalled Virat Kohli’s T20I record.
Suryakumar equalled Kohli’s T20I record for most ‘Player of the match’ awards. This was the 33-year-old’s 16th ‘Player of the match’ award. He achieved the feat in just 69 matches, 56 fewer than Kohli who retired after India's T20 World Cup 2024 triumph in Barbados.
Suryakumar and Kohli are followed by Zimbabwe captain Sikandar Raza with 15 awards from 91 innings. Afghanistan all-rounder Mohammad Nabi, former Indian captain Rohit and Malaysia's Virandeep Singh have 14 awards each in the format.
Suryakumar considers India fortunate dew didn’t come into play
“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. 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. (On left-right combination) Whatever works for the team, we'll take the call,” Suryakumar said in the post-match presentation.
Suryakumar dominates in middle overs
Suryakumar walked in to bat after the powerplay overs. Yashasvi Jaiswal and Shubman Gill got India off to an excellent start. Gill scored a 16-ball 34 whereas Jaiswal contributed with a 21-ball 40. Both openers fell in two consecutive deliveries. Suryakumar employed his typical sweeps and pick-up shots and got his 20th T20I half-century from 22 balls in the 13th over. It is his second-fastest T20I fifty.
Suryakumar shared a 76-run partnership for the third wicket with Rishabh Pant before he was dismissed lbw by Matheesha Pathirana. His 58-run knock was studded with eight fours and a couple of sixes.
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