"We were fortunate that there was no dew": Suryakumar Yadav

India`s Suryakumar Yadav celebrates his fifty during the first T20 International cricket match of a series between India and Sri Lanka at the Pallekele International Cricket Stadium, in Pallekele. Pic/PTI

Having secured a victory in the the first game of the three-match T20I series against Sri Lanka, Team India's captain Suryakumar Yadav feels that the game was under control despite the hosts making a good start as there was hardly any dew to make life difficult for his bowlers.

Chasing a target of 214 runs, the Lankans were bowled out for 170 runs and lost the opening match by 43 runs against the "Men in Blue."

"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," Suryakumar, who also won the 'Player of the Match' award for his 26-ball-58, said.

Suryakumar Yadav hailed the hosts for displaying good batting but he always knew that the pitch would slow down as the game progressed.

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"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."

Charith Asalanka feels that his side's bowlers didn't do well in the powerplay but later bounced back to restrict India to 213 where the total could have gone up to 240 runs.

"We were not up to the mark in the powerplay, but in the latter part, we came back pretty strong. At some stage, we thought they might get to 240, we did well," he said.

About being all out for 170 after being 149 for 2, the Lankan skipper did express his disappointment.

"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."

Suryakumar Yadav was later honoured with the "Player of the Match" award for his stellar knock. With this he equalled the records of stalwart Virat Kohli for the most "Player of the Match" awards in the shortest format of the game.

(With PTI Inputs)