Asia Cup T20, Match-7, India vs Sri Lanka

Match Point

It’s another good win for India then, their third straight victory in this Asia Cup. India totally outplayed Sri Lanka in every aspect really. M.S Dhoni was once again happy to field first upon winning the toss and the Indian bowlers were once again very impressive. They got the early breakthroughs and Sri Lanka kept losing wickets at regular intervals. Sri Lanka batted well in patches. Everyone got starts but no was able to convert that start into maybe a 60 or a 70 that could anchor the innings. The pitch was slightly better from a batting point of view compared to the previous games. Sri Lanka would have been hoping that they could win this game after that shocking defeat to Bangladesh but their chances were pretty slim after just giving the bowlers just 138 to defend. Rather the bowlers gave those runs themselves, a few lusty blows from Perera and Kulasekara towards the end got them to at least that 138. When it comes to Indian bowling we always talk of the spinners doing well, but of late the seamers are showing us that they are no less. Nehra and Bumrah have done very well upfront with the new ball and they have given India that perfect start, and this time around it was no different. India started of rather shakily with the bat and lost two wickets early once again, and Virat Kohli stepped up to the task once again too! He’s been the player in form, and he’s been in form for a long time now. Right after that series in England in 2014, he’s never looked back. It was another extraordinary display of technique and class. The innings really revolved around him and it was a comfortable chase in the end though it went down to the last over. Another great thing for India was the form of Yuvraj Singh. He just looked as if he had got back his flow and he was timing the ball sweetly. I think the time he spent at the crease in the game against Pakistan did his confidence a lot of good. He just came out there with a positive frame of mind and everything just fell in place. Now India’s middle order surely looks better and that was the only area that they had a bit of concern maybe, and now that’s gone too. India have barged their way into the final as well after that win and they have that one game against UAE left. As far as Sri Lanka are concerned, well they have to win their following games by huge margins and depend on other results if they are to have any chance of going into the final of this Asia Cup T20.

Star Performers

Batting: Virat Kohli — 56*(47)

Bowling: Ravichandran Ashwin — 2 for 26 (4 overs)

Catch of the Match: Hardik Pandya to dismiss Chamara Kapugedera

Man of the Match: Virat Kohli

Scorecard

SRI LANKA — 138/9 (20 overs)

Batting:

Chamara Kapugedera — 30 (32)

Milinda Siriwardana — 22 (17)

Bowling:

Ravichandran Ashwin — 2 for 26 (4 overs)

Hardik Pandya — 2 for 26 (4 overs)

INDIA — 142/5 (19.2 overs) (Toss)

Batting:

Virat Kohli — 56*(47)

Yuvraj Singh — 35 (18)

Bowling:

Nuwan Kulasekara — 2 for 21 (3 overs)

Dasun Shanaka — 1 for 7 (1 over)

THE OMG!

India’s run machine Virat Kohli has scored fifties every time he’s come out to bat against the Sri Lankan’s in T20I. He scored his third in this game in as many innings.