Srikanth shocked his Thai rival S Tanongsak, ranked 19 placed above him in the world, 21-12, 21-20 in 38 minutes to put the Warriors 1-0 ahead in the summit contest of the USD one million prize money tournament at the NSCI's Stadium.
However, any hopes of Sindhu making it a commanding 2-0 lead for the Lucknow-based Warriors vanished into thin air when she was overpowered by her more experienced rival Saina in the eagerly awaited battle between India's top two women shuttlers.
The 23-year-old London Olympic bronze medallist took an early 7-3 lead over her World Championship bronze medallist rival, before the lanky Sindhu raised some visions of a fight back by narrowing the leeway to 7-8.
But world number four Saina came up with some fine body smashes and drops to surge to a handy 14-9 lead.
The second game was even more lopsided as Saina, unbeaten in the tournament, stamped her superiority with a punishing array of shots. She took commanding 7-1 and 13-4 leads and then stepped up the pace further to completely dismantle her 18-year old Hyderabad city rival's game, winning the last two points in great style with a smash and a drop.