[Watch] Chamika distraught; Axar, SKY & Hardik relieved after India beat Sri Lanka in last-ball drama

A spectacular effort from left-arm spinner Axar Patel in the last over helped India snatch a two-run victory over Sri Lanka in the first T20I of their three-match series at the Wankhede Stadium on Tuesday.

Axar had to defend 13 runs from the last over, and the equation then came down to four runs needed off the final ball. The left-arm spinner changed the angle to over the wicket and tried to fire the ball into Chamika Karunaratne's pads to avoid giving him any room to go big.

Karunaratne got the ball in the slot but failed to make the desired connection as the batters could only complete a run. Vice-captain Suryakumar Yadav was ecstatic as he hugged a relieved Axar Patel and began to celebrate India's win.

The entire Indian team swarmed towards the middle and captain Hardik Pandya had a smile of huge relief. Chamika Karunaratne, on the other hand, was distraught as he knew he had the ball at the length that he wanted to deposit it into the stands.

Here's a video posted by the BCCI:

That's that from the 1st T20I.

#TeamIndia win by 2 runs and take a 1-0 lead in the series.

Scorecard - bit.ly/INDvSL-2023-1S… #INDvSL
@mastercardindia https://t.co/BEU4ICTc3Y

India will feel they got out of jail

This win shouldn't paper some of the cracks that were visible in the hosts' batting as well as bowling performances. Deepak Hooda and Axar Patel's partnership of 67 rescued their team to a respectable total of 162.

Even then, Sri Lanka would have been ecstatic with just 163 as the target since it was a below-par total. Although Shivam Mavi and Hardik Pandya got the hosts off to a fantastic start with the ball, Harshal Patel and Yuzvendra Chahal had a horrible outing as their expensive spells gave the visitors more than a sniff at victory.

The Men in Blue might want to make some changes ahead of their second T20I in Pune on Thursday, with the focus being on whether Arshdeep Singh is available.