"We were not up to the mark in powerplay": Charith Asalanka after Ind vs SL first T20I at Pallekele

Pallekele [Sri Lanka], July 28 (ANI): After the defeat against India in the first T20I, Sri Lanka skipper Charith Asalanka opened up about the reason behind the loss in the match, saying that the Islands were unable to utilise the powerplay.

Marvellous performances by bowlers in the second half of the second innings guided India to victory over Sri Lanka by 43 runs in the first T20I of the three-match series at the Pallekele International Cricket Stadium on Saturday.

"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

Recapping the first T20I, Sri Lanka skipper Charith Asalanka won the toss and elected to bowl first.

Batting first, India scored 213/7 in 20 overs with the knocks from Suryakumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant, Yashasvi Jaiswal, and Shubman Gill. Matheesha Pathirana was the pick of the bowlers for Sri Lanka as he snapped four wickets in his spell of four overs where he conceded 40 runs. One wicket each was taken by Dilshan Madhushanka, Asitha Fernando, and Haseanga in their respective spells.

Chasing a mammoth total opf 214, the hosts were bundled out for 170 runs in 19.2 overs. With this victory, thev Men in Blue lead the three-match series 1-0.

The highest scorer for the side was their opener Pathum Nissanka who played a good innings of 79 runs which came on 48 balls which was laced with seven fours and four sixes. The wicketkeeper-batter, Kushal Mendis also scored crucial 45 runs from just 27 balls with the help of seven fours and a six. No other batter than these two were able to make the mark in the match.

For India, spinner Riyan Parag was the highest wicket-taker. He took three wickets in his spell of 1.2 overs where he conceded just five runs. Two wickets each were bagged by Arshdeep Singh, Axar Patel and one wicket each was taken by Mohammed Siraj, Ravi Bishnoi in their respective spells.

Suryakumar was awarded the Player of the Match for his brilliant performance. (ANI)