Suryakumar Yadav and Virat Kohli (Picture Credit: X/@BCCI)
Suryakumar Yadav came out to bat at No. 3 for India in the 1st T20I against Sri Lanka and, with the help of 8 fours and 2 sixes, scored 58 runs from 26 balls.
India’s T20I captain, Suryakumar Yadav, was on fire against Sri Lanka on Saturday (July 27). In the first T20I of the ongoing three-match series, the 33-year-old right-handed batter scored 58 runs for the Men in Blue. Surya came out to bat at No. 3 for India, and during his 26-ball stay at the crease, he hammered eight fours and two sixes.
For his superb show with the bat, Surya won the Player of the Match award in the series opener. The POTM award helped him equal Virat Kohli’s world record of most POTM awards in T20I history. Surya, who made his T20I debut for India in March 2021 against England in Ahmedabad, has 16 POTM awards to his name in 69 matches played so far, whereas Kohli finished his career with 16 awards in 125 matches.
The former Indian captain played his last T20I for India against South Africa in Barbados last month during the T20 World Cup 2024 final and scored 76 runs. For his top show with the bat, the 35-year-old Kohli won the POTM award.
In the list of batters with the most POTM awards in T20Is, Surya and Kohli are followed by Zimbabwe’s T20I captain Sikandar Raza, who has 15 POTM awards to his name. India’s Test and ODI captain Rohit Sharma is in third place with 14 awards.
Most Player of the Match awards in T20Is
- Suryakumar Yadav (India) – 16 (69 matches)
- Virat Kohli (India) – 16 (125 matches)
- Sikandar Raza (Zimbabwe) – 15 (91 matches)
India’s won by 43 runs
In the first T20I of the ongoing three-match series, India beat Sri Lanka by 43 runs at Pallekele International Cricket Stadium. Riding on Surya’s 58, Rishabh Pant’s 49, Yashasvi Jaiswal’s 40, and Shubman Gill’s 34-run knock from 16 balls, India posted a total of 213 runs on the board for the loss of seven wickets in 20 overs.
The 214-run target proved too much for the hosts, and despite attacking fifty from opening batter Pathum Nissanka (79 from 48 balls), Charith Asalanka’s men could only manage to post a total of 170 runs for the loss of 10 wickets in 19.2 overs.
For India, all-rounder Riyan Parag, who was preferred over the likes of Sanju Samson and Shivam Dube in the playing XI, picked up three wickets for five runs in 1.2 overs, and two batters each were sent back to the pavilion by Arshdeep Singh and Axar Patel.