Asia Cup T20: India v Sri Lanka – 5 Talking Points

India stretched their winning streak in the Asia Cup T20 after beating Sri Lanka by 5 wickets tonight. This win seals a place for the ‘Men in Blue’ in the finals whereas the Sri Lankans have been virtually knocked out of the tournament. Batting first, Sri Lanka managed a respectable 138/9 with the help of valuable knocks from the middle order batsmen. Indian bowlers yet again had a very fruitful day in the field. Chasing the score, India started off quite badly, losing both their openers for cheap scores. However, Virat Kohli along with Suresh Raina and Yuvraj Singh batted really well and smoothly ensured that India reached home safely.

1. Middle order save Sri Lanka after a miserable start:

Sri Lanka’s depressing batting show continued as their top order once again failed to click. The top three were back to the pavilion by the 7th over. Opener Dinesh Chandimal fell to Nehra in his the 3rd over after getting caught behind by MS Dhoni. The next wicket to fall was Shehan Jayasuriya who nicked Bumrah to MS Dhoni. T. Dilshan tried to counter attack and was successful to some extent until Hardik Pandya managed to rush the veteran batsmen with a bouncer to get him caught at deep fine leg. Angelo Matthews was also a disappointment. After the initial setbacks, Milinda Siriwardana (30 from 32 balls) and Chamara Kapugedara (22 from 17 balls) got into the rescue act, building a 43 run stand. Later, Thisara Perera and Nuwan Kulasekara contributed some useful runs to help Sri Lanka reach 138/9.

2. Bowlers have a field day:

Indian bowlers yet again put up a great show. Ashish Nehra (1/23) and Jasprit Bumrah (2/27) were at their best and gave a good start to India. Hardik Pandya (2/26) continued to impress with his bowling and got the big wickets of Tillakaratne Dilshan and Angelo Matthews. Ravichandran Ashwin, who these days doesn’t get an early chance to bowl, was also among wickets today. Ashwin returned to the dugout with 2/26 in his spell of four overs. Yuvraj Singh and Suresh Raina both bowled one over of their part-time spin bowling and were economical. Ravindra Jadeja, although, was the only exception today, giving away 19 runs in his 2 overs.

3. Indian openers flunk as Kulasekara shines:

Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan were back as openers for India. But, it was an upsetting reunion for the duo as both got dismissed cheaply. India had a reasonably easy target to chase but Rohit and Dhawan failed to give India the ideal start. Experienced swing bowler Nuwan Kulasekara made his presence felt in the 2nd over when he got rid of Dhawan (1 run) who edged one behind to keeper. In his following over, Kulasekara again made an impact after Rohit Sharma (15 runs) nicked a straighter delivery to Kapugedara at slips off his bowling. The Indians were down to 16/2 and Sri Lankan sensed an opportunity.

4. Virat Kohli guides the chase:

Virat Kohli once again starred for India with an unbeaten match-winning knock of 56 off 47 balls. Kohli came in to bat when Indians had been brought to 16/2. The right-hander forged 54 runs partnership with Suresh Raina before the latter departed in the 12th over. He then partnered with Yuvraj Singh to stitch a 51 runs stand and helped India cruise to victory. The stand was broken when Yuvi was dismissed in the 17th over with only a handful of runs remaining. Kohli, however, completed his half-century and completed the formality of getting those runs to guide India to an easy 5 wicket win.

5. Vintage Yuvraj Singh:

Ever since his comeback, Yuvraj Singh was criticized for playing too slowly. Some had already wrote him off saying that he has lost his old charm. But, that wasn’t the case today as Yuvraj, after some lukewarm knocks, was back at his brutal best. Yuvi played a short aggressive cameo of 35 runs off just 18 balls to infuse life into the match. His entertaining knock was studded with 3 sixes and 3 fours. The left-hander scored the bulk of runs in the 51 runs stand he shared with Kohli who quietly took the backseat watching Yuvi batting in such a good flow.

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