SL 175-5 (18.3 ovs) vs India 174-5 | Scorecard

Kusal Perera blasted 66 from 37 balls to help Sri Lanka outclass India by five wickets in the first match of the T20 tri-series in Colombo.

Chasing 175 for victory, Sri Lanka lost an early wicket before Perera's counter-attack brought them back into the contest.

He set tone by hammering pacer Shardul Thakur for 27 runs in the third over, including five fours and a six, before racing to his fifty from just 22 balls.

Thisara Perera finished off things at the end, hitting a quickfire 22 not out from 10 balls to help Sri Lanka start off with a win.

Earlier, Opener Shikhar Dhawan smashed a quickfire 90 from 49 balls to power India a huge 174 for five in their 20 overs in the first T20 against Sri Lanka.

Put into bat, India lost captain Rohit Sharma (0) and Suresh Raina (1) early before Dhawan rallied the visitors in the company of Manish Pandey.

Pandey hit 37 from 25 balls as the duo put on 95 from 64 balls for the third wicket to put India's innings back on track.