The pitch was dry. Dunith Wellalage, the all-rounder, could not put a foot wrong. Charith Asalanka, a part-time off-spinner, also came to the party; so did India’s more accomplished tweakers. But in a low-scoring affair, it was India’s opening combination with the bat and ball that turned out to be the difference between the two sides.
Riding on captain Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill’s 80-run stand and a fiery spell from Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj up front, the Men in Blue broke Sri Lanka’s 13-match unbeaten streak with a convincing 41-run victory. The win put India in Sunday’s Asia Cup final with two games remaining in the Super 4s stage.
As a dry surface was offered adjacent to the one used for India’s clash against Pakistan that turned out to be a two-day affair, both teams packed their line-ups with spinners. Shardul Thakur was replaced by Axar Patel in India’s XI. Axar did help India cross the 200-run mark with some sensible batting towards the end but had it not been for Rohit’s charge in the PowerPlay, India could have struggled to get anywhere near the total it reached.
