වාර්තා තියලා සනා මතක් කරමින් පොඩි සනා ගහපූ සුපිරි ඉනිම මෙන්න VIDEO

Sri Lanka rode a 22-ball fifty from Kusal Perera, and a proficient finish from Thisara Perera, to victory in the Nidahas Trophy opener against India, though the chase of 175 was not without its tense moments. With four overs remaining in the chase, Sri Lanka needed 35 and had two relatively new batsmen at the crease. Although India's quicks were briefly ascendant, a six and a four down the ground from Thisara lurched Sri Lanka to the brink of victory. He would complete the win himself, with a swipe to the fine-leg boundary, with nine balls still left in the innings.

Asked to bat first, India had lost two early wickets, but mustered a competitive total thanks largely to Shikhar Dhawan, who made 90 off 49 balls - his best score in the format. Dhawan's 95-run stand with Manish Pandey was the centrepiece of India's innings, though perhaps they will be disappointed to not have made at least 10 runs more, given the position Dhawan had left them in. Two spinners - Jeevan Mendis and Danushka Gunathilaka - had taken a wicket apiece and kept the scoring in check through the latter half of the innings.

It was Kusal who had got Sri Lanka well ahead of the asking rate, and he had done it inside the Powerplay. He slog swept the second ball of his innings for six, and then really took flight in the next over - the third of the innings - bowled by Shardul Thakur. Kusal walloped the first ball nonchalantly over midwicket for four, the second he carved behind point, the third he drilled to the cover boundary, and the fourth - a slower delivery - was lifted over the long-on boundary. The bowler's mind muddled now, he sent a chest-high full toss at Kusal, who had no issues thumping the no-ball to the cover fence. Another four, this one smoked down the ground, brought the total for the over to 27. Only with the last ball did Thakur gain some respite - a short delivery was merely bunted to fine leg. India, however, were now scrambling to contain Kusal. His partner Danushka Gunathilaka would soon hole out to mid-off, but even he had hit three boundaries. Though Sri Lanka had lost both their openers by the end of the fifth over, they had hit 70 runs.