The way he’s batting currently, a day is not far when teams start demanding for extra fielders against ‘SKY’. The man must be a nightmare for video analysts in rival camps.

It was only a matter of time before Yadav notched up his maiden T20I ton at home. That he slammed it with the series on the line makes it special.

Sending a 28,000-strong crowd at the SCA Stadium here into delirium, the gum-chewing Surya wielded his bat like a magic wand. His unbeaten 112 (51 balls; 7×4, 9×6) saw India gallop to 228/5 after choosing to bat first in the third and deciding T20I of the series against a shellshocked Sri Lanka.

The visitors had a forgettable night, crashing to 137 all out in reply in just 16.4 overs.
Bouncing back after delivering five no-balls in the last game, left-arm pacer Arshdeep Singh took 3-20 as the hosts won by a massive 91-run margin.

Yadav’s 45-ball century was the fastest at this venue in T20Is, beating New Zealand opener Colin Munro’s record, which came in 2017, by 13 balls. It was also the second-fastest T20I hundred by an Indian, with only Rohit Sharma’s 31-ball ton in Indore in 2017 against Sri Lanka being faster. No one other than an opener has smashed three centuries in T20Is, but then Surya is batting on a different planet.

Before the ‘Surya special’ came a Rahul Tripathi cameo, a quickfire 35 of just 16 balls that gave wings to India’s start.

The Suryakumar show kicked off in the 11th over with a trademark inside-out shot for four to extra cover and a whip over square leg off Karunaratne. It reached its first peak when, falling over, Surya pulled off a ramp shot for six even as Dilshan Madhushanka’s high full toss followed him. 18 runs came off that 13th over as he carted a 6, 4 and 6.
The party reached a crescendo when Surya smashed consecutive sixes off Theekshana in the 14th over, which went for 23 runs.