COLOMBO: Kuldeep Yadav once again spearheaded India’s bowling attack with a four-fer and powered his side into the Asia Cup 2023 final with a 41-run victory over Sri Lanka, boasting Pakistan’s chances to qualify for the final.
Pakistan and Sri Lanka, both with two points each in as many matches will now engage in a virtual semi-final on Thursday.
Notably, if the all-important clash gets washed out then Sri Lanka will join India in the final of the Asia Cup 2023 due to a superior net run rate.
In a low-scoring thriller on Tuesday, Sri Lanka were set to chase a modest 214-run target but the home side could manage 172 in reply despite a fighting knock by Dunith Wellalage.
Sri Lanka had a deplorable start to their run chase as they lost three wickets for just 25 runs in the eighth over, courtesy of a dominating opening spell by Indian pacers Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj.
Sadeera Samarawickrama then put together a brief 43-run partnership with Dhananjaya de Silva before falling to India’s star with the ball Kuldeep Yadav. He played a cautious 17-run knock including a boundary.
Sri Lanka then lost two more wickets in quick succession and consequently slipped to 99/6 in 25.1 overs.
Dhananjaya de Silva and Dunith Wellalage then put together a crucial 63-run partnership to bring Sri Lanka back into the game.
The home side were in a solid position before Dhananjaya de Silva threw away his wicket while charging on Ravindra Jadeja in the 38th over when Sri Lanka still needed 52 runs.
Dhananjaya de Silva scored a sensible 41 off 66 deliveries, laced with five boundaries.
Following his dismissal, Sri Lanka lost wickets at an alarming rate and were soon bundled out on 172 in the 42nd over.
Dunith Wellalage remained stranded at the crease with an unbeaten 46-ball 42.
Kuldeep Yadav led the bowling attack for India with 4/43, followed by Ravindra Jadeja and Jasprit Bumrah, taking two wickets each while Mohammed Siraj and Hardik Pandya had a wicket apiece to their names.
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India recorded their second straight Super Four win in the 50-over tournament, a prelude to the upcoming ODI World Cup, and ended Sri Lanka’s 13-match winning streak in ODIs.
It was India’s third straight day on the field after they crushed Pakistan by 228 runs on Monday in a match that was played across two days due to rain.
For India, its skipper Rohit Sharma scored 53 to hand his team a brisk start but Wellalage hit back.
The 20-year-old returned figures of 5-40 including the key wickets of Rohit and Virat Kohli with strong support from part-time spinner Charith Asalanka, who claimed four victims for 18 runs.
Rohit entered an elite list of players with over 10,000 ODI runs and hit his second successive fifty.
