Picture : BCCI/X
After routing Pakistan the previous day, India in a back-to-back encounter defeated Sri Lanka by 41 runs in a super four match to secure their place in the final of the Asia Cup .
For this the credit goes top the Indian bowling unit. India skipper Rohit Sharma’s fifty (53 off 48 balls) was the cornerstone of India’s sub-par 213 after Lankan spinners Dunith Wellalage (5/40) and Charith Asalanka (4/18) bamboozled them.
But India, guided by Kuldeep Yadav’s 4 for 43, bowled out Sri Lanka for 172.
India, who entered the final with four points, will either face Sri Lanka or Pakistan in the summit clash on Sunday. The hosts will face Pakistan in a crunch match on Thursday.
Consecutive wins in Colombo for #TeamIndia 🙌
Kuldeep Yadav wraps things up in style as India complete a 41-run victory over Sri Lanka 👏👏
Scorecard ▶️ https://t.co/P0ylBAiETu#AsiaCup2023 | #INDvSL pic.twitter.com/HUVtGvRpnG
— BCCI (@BCCI) September 12, 2023
Sri Lanka were 25 for 3 at that stage and Kuldeep took a couple of quick wickets to further dent their chase, reducing them to 99 for six.
However, Wellalage (42 not out) and Dhananjaya de Silva (41 off 66 balls) added 63 runs for an enterprising seventh wicket alliance to revive Lankan hopes.
But a moment of indiscretion ended the stand as De Silva tried to clear the infield off Jadeja only to give a simple catch to Gill at the edge of the circle.
From that point, Wellalage, who batted exceptionally well under pressure against a fancied opponent, tried to bridge the gap.
But the task was a tad too hard to achieve with a one man show.
Earlier, left-arm spinner Wellalage and offie Asalanka did not allow Indian batters to settle into any sort of rhythm, as they knifed through their line-up taking nine wickets among them.
But before Lankan spinners exploited the generous turn and grip on the Premadasa pitch, India started their innings in a blazing fashion.
Rohit added 80 runs for the opening wicket with Gill, and that remained the brightest phase of Indian innings.
Watching Rohit and Gill adding those runs in just 12 overs rekindled the memories of India’s blitz against Pakistan on Monday, when they posted a massive 356 for two.
During his innings, the Indian captain also went past a significant personal milestone, becoming the sixth Indian batsmen to score 10000 runs in ODIs.
