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• Spinners star as Sri Lanka beat New Zealand by four wickets in opening T20I

  Sri Lanka defeated New Zealand by four wickets in the first T20I of their two-match series in Dambulla.

  Captain Charith Asalanka scored an unbeaten 35 to help the hosts go past the 136-run target set by the Black Caps with an over to spare. 

  After losing opener Kusal Mendis for a duck in the second over, Kusal Perera hit a quick 23 runs off 15 balls, while Kamindu Mendis also added the same amount to the scoreboard as Sri Lanka eased to victory despite losing six wickets. 

  The tourists had struggled on a surface that aided Sri Lanka's spinners, with Dunith Wellalage (3-20), Wanindu Hasaranga (2-20) and Maheesh Theekshana (1-21) picking up six wickets between them. 

  All-rounder Zakary Foulkes, who went on to get his career-best T20I figures of 3-20 with the ball, and Michael Bracewell both scored 27 runs for a youthful New Zealand side, which ultimately lost wickets at regular intervals and could not mount the big score needed to truly test Sri Lanka.

  The two sides will meet again in the second and T20I match on Sunday before the first of the three one-day internationals at the same venue on Wednesday. 

• Buttler feared losing white-ball captaincy after World Cup double whammy

  Jos Buttler has said he was worried about losing the England white-ball captaincy during a disappointing period for his country.

  England recently lost both of their world titles in both T20 and ODI, with head coach Matthew Mott sacked as a result.

  Buttler, meanwhile, was spared by managing director Rob Key, with incoming manager Brendon McCullum, who is expanding his England role to include coaching the ODI and T20I teams until 2027, also expressing his confidence in Buttler's role as captain.

  The 34-year-old will return for England on Saturday as they face West Indies in the first of their five-match T20 series. It will be the first time since the T20 World Cup semi-final exit in June that Buttler has played for his country.

  "I thought it was a possibility, absolutely," he admitted when asked whether he thought he could have lost the captaincy.

  "But Keysy believed I could lead the team forward and captain into the future. I had some good conversations with him and I said I didn't want to be doing it because I'm the only person to do it. I want to be doing it because I'm the right person to do it.

  "I've really enjoyed the honour of doing it, it's something I believe I can do well, something I know I can always get better at, just as with batting or wicketkeeping, it's a skill that you can improve.

  "It actually became very clear that you're determined to do it and keep going."

• Samson century sets India on way to comfortable T20I win over South Africa

  Sanju Samson's century and a strong bowling display set India on their way to a 61-run victory over South Africa at Kingsmead on Friday.

  The teams met for the first time since the T20 World Cup final, with India once again coming out on top to take a 1-0 lead in the four-match T20I series.

  Samson started strongly, plundering 107 in a knock which included 10 sixes, and held firm to get his second consecutive T20I century, even as Abhishek Sharma (7) and Suryakumar Yadav (21) were both taken early.

  Tilak Yarma added 33, but Gerald Coetzee (3-37) helped to ensure India's momentum faltered, though the tourists still set a tough target, finishing on 202-8.

  Any hopes of a quick start for South Africa crumbled though as Aiden Markram (8) fell inside the first over.

  Varun Chakaravarthy (3-25) and Ravi Bishnoi (3-28) impressively stopped any rhythm from building, with the latter stopping South Africa's top-scorer Heinrich Klaasen on 25 as the hosts stumbled to all out for 141 in the 18th over.

  Data Debrief: No home comforts

  South Africa will have been looking to avenge their World Cup final loss, but their struggles on home soil continued in Durban.

  They have lost their last five men's T20Is at Kingsmead, including their last four. Meanwhile, India are undefeated in their five matches at Kingsmead (W4 T1).

  In fact, South Africa have lost 17 of their last 20 men's T20Is in South Africa, with India responsible for their last two such losses. They had only lost once in nine matches prior to this span (W7 T1).

  The damage was done early on by Samson, whose hundred is the fastest by an Indian in T20Is against South Africa.