Yusuf (left) and Irfan Pathan celebrate their victory over Sri Lanka in Colombo, on Tuesday. (AP)

Calcutta/Colombo: It was a Super Tuesday for the brothers in cricket.

If Mike and David Hussey did it for Australia in Adelaide Tuesday morning, it was Yusuf and Irfan Pathan’s turn in Colombo in the evening.

Yusuf and Irfan put on a scintillating 59-run unbroken partnership for the eighth wicket in just 25 deliveries to take India to a last-over victory over Sri Lanka in the one-off Twenty20 International.

Earlier in the day, twin half centuries from David (79) and elder brother Michael (75 not out) fashioned Australia’s series-levelling six-wicket victory against New Zealand.

When asked to comment on the connection during the post-match presentation ceremony, elder brother and Man of the Match Yusuf said: “It was a good day for the brothers.”

Eight months after his blitzkrieg in the Indian Premier League final against the Chennai Super Kings, Yusuf changed the complexion of the game in the 16th over with two sixes and a boundary off leg-spinner Malinga Bandara. India reached the target of 172 with four balls to spare.

“The balls were landing in my area so I just went for my shots,” the unassuming Baroda allrounder said. Yusuf also picked up two wickets with the ball, giving away 23 runs in four overs — quite miserly by Twenty20 standards.

“When the captain gave me the ball, runs were flowing pretty fast. So I just thought of not giving any room to the batsmen and that really worked,” Yusuf said.

Captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni admitted that the match was slipping away from India at one point.

“It was tough… We played some bad shots and couple of wickets fell in the middle. We were under pressure… The Pathan brothers brought us back in the game,” Dhoni said.

“Their spinners bowled really well and the ball was turning quite a bit under the lights. Although our batsmen struggled, it’s a good learning curve for them. There are lots of youngsters in our team and stiff matches like these are a great learning experience.”

For stand-in captain Tillekeratne Dilshan, it was a sort of baptism by fire. Dilshan played a captain’s knock of 61 off 47 balls but his dismissal at the end of the 17th over proved crucial for the islanders.

“I was really happy with the score. Me and Sanath gave the start and the middle order also played well. Unfortunately I got out in the 17th over and that made a difference of 15-20 runs,” Dilshan, who also kept wickets on Tuesday, said.

“We started well, picked some early wickets, but both Yusuf and Irfan played really well. We conceded 14 wides and that was the turning point in the match,” Dilshan said.

Dilshan also expressed happiness with the performance of the youngsters.

“We played a lot of youngsters today. I was happy with their performance.We gave a good fight to India.”