Sri Lanka no match for Virat Kohli led Indian batting

Virat Kohli’s brilliance with the bat saw the Indians dash Sri Lanka’s hopes and clinch a place in the final of the Asia Cup.

Sri Lanka’s chances of defending 138 seemed slim right from the get go but the early wickets by Kulasekara gave them some hope before Kohli guided them home with a splendid half century.

Sri Lanka were put into to bat by MS Dhoni and their approach to the batting was different this time around but their execution was below par once again. Both TM Dilshan and Dinesh Chandimal looked to take on the bowlers after two quiet overs to start off but Chandimal knicked behind when he tried to slog an Ashish Nehra inswinger to give India an early breakthrough. Shehan Jayasuriya was again entrusted with the no. 3 position but he fell off the bowling of Jasprit Bumrah, who once again impressed with movement and control.

After much criticism from the Sri Lankan fans, Chamara Kapugedara was finally given an opportunity to bat up the order. The 1st 3 deliveries he faced from Bumrah didn’t inspire much confidence as he played and missed outside the off stump. Kapugedara was extremely lucky when he survived a tight LBW call in the 5th over as replays showed the ball pitching in line and crashing into the stumps. Dilshan seemed to be getting into his groove when he mistimed a pull shot straight to deep fine leg off Hardik Pandya’s 1st delivery, leaving Sri Lanka stuttering once again on 33/3. Angelo Mathews walked in and nearly had his partner run-out in just his 2nd delivery when he called for a run and then turned back, leaving Kapugedara stranded only to have the fielder miss the stumps at the non-striker’s end.

Mathews smashed Ravindra Jadeja straight down the ground for four and then put away Pandya for two boundaries in the 11th over to move to 18 off 16 deliveries. Pandya had the last laugh however as Mathews dragged on in the very next delivery when he tried to run the ball down to third man.

Milinda Siriwardene showed some class taking on the spinners and injecting some momentum into the innings but he fell immediately after Sri Lanka brought up their 100 as he looked to clear the boundary off Ravichandran Ashwin. Dasun Shanaka fell in the same over as he slogged a free hit straight to mid-wicket and took off for a single, falling well short of the crease when the bails were taken off.

Kapugedara was the next to go when he smashed an inside-out drive with amazing timing to Pandya at sweeper cover who took a really good catch, backtracking. Thisera Perera looked better than he had for a long time, smashing a couple of boundaries off Bumrah and then coming down the track to send the 2nd delivery of the 19th over the stands. A crucial error by the square leg umpire saw Perera out stumped; replays showing that he had clearly creased the bat when the bails were whipped off. Nuwan Kulasekara smashed two Nehra full tosses to the boundary in the last over to give India a target of 139.

Ashwin, Bumrah and Pandya picked up 2 wickets each to restrict the Sri Lankans to a score the Indians would probably have been comfortable chasing.

The chase began well for the Indians as Rohit Sharma found the boundary a couple of times but Kulasekara had Shikar Dhawan in the 2nd over as he knicked the ball to Chandimal behind the stumps. Sharma offered half a chance in the next over but Dushmantha Chameera’s miss didn’t cost the Sri Lankans much as Kulasekara had him caught at slip in the very next over.

Kohli gave the fans another master class in batting under pressure as he and Suresh Raina played some unbelievably good cricket to ease the pressure on the Indians. Just as India was beginning to run away with things Shanaka was brought into the attack and struck with his 1st delivery when a lapse in concentration saw Raina mistiming the ball to mid-off. Yuvraj Singh walked in and took the game well and truly out of reach of the Sri Lankans, making 35 off 18 deliveries. He fell within striking distance of the target and a Rangana Herath ripper spelled the end for Pandya. Dhoni walked in with the equation reading 14 off 13 deliveries but a big six in the next over and two boundaries off Kohli’s bat saw India reach the target with 4 deliveries to spare, a margin that made the encounter seem closer than it really was.

With the win India move to the finals while Sri Lanka will have to look at the results of both Pakistan and Bangladesh to have any hope of qualifying to face their arch rivals in the big game. In order to give themselves a chance to defend their Asia Cup title, Sri Lanka will have to hope that Pakistan beats Bangladesh and then beat Pakistan themselves while also maintaining a good net run rate. Sri Lanka’s next game will be against Pakistan on the 4th of March.