Asia Cup 2022: Sri Lanka clinch a nerve-racking contest against India to grab their second win of super four
Match Report: Sri Lanka clinch a nerve-racking contest against India in the third game of the super four stage of the Asia Cup 2022.
Sri Lanka clinch a nerve-racking contest: India faced Sri Lanka in the third match of the Super Four stage of the Asia Cup 2022. It was a close-fought contest and the Lankan side managed to hold their nerves to clinch a last-over thriller to grab their second win of super fours.
Sri Lankan skipper Dasun Shanaka won the toss and opted to bowl first. They had a very good start with the ball as Maheesh Theekshana trapped KL Rahul on six. Virat Kohli was cleaned up by Dilshan Madushanka on a duck in the third over. Rohit Sharma along with Suryakumar Yadav steadied the ship for the Indian side as they scored 44 at the end of the powerplay.
Rohit led the charge as he brought up his fifty which comprised of some beautiful strokes. The pair put 97 between them before the Indian skipper departed on 72. SKY fell on 34 soon and this allowed the Lankan side to pull back things. The Indian side kept losing wickets at regular intervals and couldn’t finish with a flourish as they ended their innings on 173/8. Madushanka finished with three wickets whereas Chamika Karunaratne and Shanaka picked up two each.
The Lankan side got off to a sensational start to their chase. Kusal Mendis and Pathum Nissanka played some fantastic strokes and never allowed the Indian bowlers to settle in as they scored 57 at the end of the first six overs. Both put 97 between them, the highest opening stand for Sri Lanka against India in T20Is.
Nissanka brought up his fifty but departed soon as Yuzvendra Chahal’s twin strikes in the 12th over allowed the Men in Blue to get back into the contest. They picked up four wickets in quick succession and as a result, the required run rate climbed up. The game went down to the wire and a solid unbeaten partnership of 64 between Bhanuka Rajapaksa (25*) and Shanaka (33*) helped them get across the line with one ball to spare.
India on the verge of getting knocked out of the Asia Cup 2022
India lost to Pakistan in their opening game of the super four of the Asia Cup and lost their next game against Sri Lanka. If Pakistan beat Afghanistan in the fourth game, India will be knocked out of the competition.
Sri Lanka, meanwhile, have turned the tables around. They suffered a heavy loss in their opening game of this edition of the Asia Cup but bounced back to win the next three to put their one foot in the final. They will be riding with confidence and will look to repeat their performance while taking on Pakistan in their next fixture on Friday.
Player of the Match
Dasun Shanaka grabbed the Player of the Match award for his all-round performance help Sri Lanka to clinch a nerve-racking contest againt India.
The environment in the team set the tone. It is what gave us the confidence. The batting unit won it for us. The bowlers bowled well in patches, Dilshan and Theekshana in particular. The Indian batsmen came hard, but we did well to keep them to 173. We had a good dicussion after the first game. We know what we can do in this tournament.
– Dasun Shanaka
Rohit Sharma: Our Execution was not upto the mark. #INDvSL #AsiaCup #T20WorldCup #AsiaCupT20 #RohitSharma #arshdeepsingh pic.twitter.com/8cl13p8QsW
— CriiicWorld 🏆🏏 (@Criiicworld) September 7, 2022
Score Summary
India: 173/8 (20)
(Rohit Sharma 72, Suryakumar Yadav 34, Dilshan Madushanka 3/24)
Sri Lanka: 174/4 (19.5)
(Kusal Mendis 57, Pathum Nissanka 52, Yuzvendra Chahal 3/34)
Sri Lanka beat India by six wickets to clinch a nerve-racking contest.
