Colombo: Riding on Kusal Perera’s 66 runs off 37 balls, hosts Sri Lanka beat India by five wickets in the opening match of the Nidahas Trophy Twenty20 International (T20I) cricket tri-series on Tuesday.
In the absence of star players MS Dhoni and Virat Kohli, the Indian batsmen put up a decent 175 runs as target. Shikhar Dhawan scored 90 runs of 49 deliveries. However, Perera took over control after Sri Lanka lost early wickets.
For India, spinners Yuzvendra Chahal (2/37) and Washington Sundar (2/28) did help control the game at some stage.
Meanwhile, the security of the Indian team has been beefed up following the country plunging into emergency due to communal violence.
“There have been reports of curfew and an emergency being called in Sri Lanka. The situation in picture is in Kandy and not Colombo,” a statement from the media cell of the Indian team read.
