India put up a brave front to defeat Sri Lanka by 3 wickets in the one-off T20 international match at the R Premadasa Stadium in Colombo. Yusuf Pathan (22) and Irfan Pathan (33) pushed India to win as the visitors won the match with 4 balls to spare.India started the innings on a shaky note as openers Virender Sehwag (1) and Gautam Gambhir (13) were dismissed in a hurry. While Sehwag was run out, Gautam Gambhir was caught by Weeraratne on Thushara's delivery.
Suresh Raina and Yuvraj Singh took India past the first fifty as the visitors scored 57/2 in 6 overs. Jehan Mubarak provided a breakthrough as Yuvraj Singh was dismissed. Yuvraj was caught by Dilshan as he made 32 runs.
Debutant Ravindra Jadeja, who was sent in over the likes of Yusuf Pathan, also left in a hurry as India lost wickets quickly.
The run juggernaut started once Yusuf Pathan and Irfan Pathan came at the crease. The duo dealt in sixes and fours to constitute 59 runs for the 8th wicket stand in just 25 balls.
Earlier, skipper Tillakaratne Dilshan (61) led from the front as Sri Lanka made 171/4 in 20 overs against India.
Jayasuriya gave a flying start to Sri Lankan inings as the islanders raced to 53/0 in 5 overs against India. Irfan Pathan provided the first breakthrough as Sanath Jayasuriya (33) was caught by Ishant Sharma.
Jehan Mubarak (13) was caught by Yusuf Pathan on his own delivery as Sri Lanka lose their second wicket.
Yusuf Pathan struck again as Chamara Kapugedera was caught by Virender Sehwag. Skipper Tillakaratne Dilshan made his maiden T20 half-century and departed soon after as he was caught by Raina on Ishant Sharma's delivery.
Sri Lanka could not post a heavy total as Ishant Sharma's 20th over conceded just 3 runs. Kaushalya Weeraratne (10) and Chamara Silva (21) remain not out as the innings came to an end.
Sri Lanka won the toss and elected to bat against India. For India, Zaheer Khan came in place of L Balaji. Zaheer Khan and Ravindra Jadeja made their T20 debut in this match.
Sri Lankan team left out Dilhara Lokuhettige but included Chamara Silva, Malinga Bandara and Lasith Malinga in the squad.
