If India was looking for a dress rehearsal before the big final clash against Pakistan, they were in for a big surprise as they were stunned by a down and out Sri Lanka in their final Super 4s clash of the Asia Cup in Dubai on Friday.
The Lankans, already eliminated from the tournament, lit up the evening with some sensational shots in their run chase of 203, as they took the match to a thrilling Super Over finish.
The Lankan run chase was led by a scintillating hundred by opener Pathum Nissanka, who smashed a 52-ball century, getting to the milestone with a straight six off Arshdeep Singh. Nissanka’s maiden T20I ton is only the third hundred in Asia Cup tournaments in the shortest format of the game.
The stage of the Lankan run chase was set up by a blitzkrieg 127-run stand for the second wicket off just 70 balls between Nissanka and Kusal Perera.
Both Nissanka and Perera took the Indian attack to the cleaners racing to their 100-run stand up off just 54 balls.
Perera hit a six and 8 fours in his 32-ball 58-run knock before he was stumped by Sanju Samson off Varun Chakaravarthy.
Suryakumar Yadav’s gamble to give Kuldeep Yadav one more over paid off as he dismissed Sri Lankan captain Charith Asalanka off the first ball his last over, caught by Shubman Gill at long-on.
Arshdeep Singh dismissed Kamindu Mendis early, and all hopes were pinned on Nissanka to guide the Lankans to victory in the company of Dasun Shanaka.
12 runs were needed off the last over bowled by Harshit Rana, who had conceded 44 runs off his 3 overs and Nissanka flicked the first delivery of the over straight into the hands of Varun Chakaravarthy at short fine-leg.
Nissanka departed after a 107-run knock that came off just 58 balls and was studded with 6 sixes and 7 fours.
But Shanaka held his nerves and edged the penultimate delivery of Rana’s over the lone first slip to the third man fence to bring the equation down to 3 runs needed off the last ball.
Shanaka mistimed a hit to long-on, where Axar Patel fumbled that allowed the Sri Lankan to go back for 2, but thinking that the throw was coming to his end, he dived as Janith Liyanage looked for a third and Rana also missed a run out chance and the match went into a Super Over.
Dasun Shanaka and Kusal Perera walked out for the Lankans and Perera was dismissed off the first delivery of the Super Over, bowled by Arshdeep, caught by Rinku Singh in the covers.
Kamindu Mendis managed a single off the next delivery and Arshdeep followed it up with a dot ball and a wide. Shanaka missed the next delivery and went for a single. Samson threw the ball to make a direct hit but Arshdeep appealed for a caught behind dismissal to which the umpire raised his finger before the square leg umpire could signal for the run out. Shanaka went for the review and the replays showed there was no edge and hence the ball was dead after the umpire at the bowler’s end had raised his finger, the run out was also ruled out.
Shanaka fell off the next delivery caught by Jitesh Sharma at the third man fence as Sri Lanka scored 2 runs off the Super Over.
Captain Suryakumar Yadav walked out with Shubman Gill for India’s reply in the Super Over bowled by Wanindu Hasaranga and SKY hit the first delivery through the covers for 3 runs to guide India to victory.
Earlier, Sanju Samson found timely confidence with a handy 39, building on Abhishek Sharma’s trademark early blitz, as India piled up a commanding 202/5.
This score surpassed both Afghanistan's 188 against Hong Kong and India's 188 against Oman, making it the highest by any team in the current tournament.
Abhishek smashed a 31-ball 61, while Samson thrived at No. 5, belting some stunning sixes in his 22-ball cameo. Tilak Varma anchored the innings, finishing unbeaten on 49 off 34 balls — a resilient knock that will boost his confidence immensely.
Abhishek's pounding of the bowlers in the powerplay has become the standard for this tournament, as he completed a hat-trick of half-centuries. The innings on Friday featured eight fours and two sixes, despite the cheap dismissals of Suryakumar Yadav and Shubman Gill.
However, Abhishek was caught at deep mid-wicket boundary following a half-tracker from Sri Lanka captain Charith Asalanka, as he missed out on a hundred for the third time in the competition.
Gill (4) fell after a Maheesh Theekshana delivery held up, resulting in a leading edge that the bowler comfortably caught. Skipper Surya (12), struggling for form, tried to sweep his way out of trouble but was trapped LBW by Wanindu Hasaranga.
The down-the-ground shot from Hasaranga's bowling was the most notable of Samson's three sixes. He muscled it directly into the sight-screen after plopping his front foot shade outside the leg-stump to create space.
Samson hit Dasun Shanaka over cow corner for another maximum in the following over. Before Axar Patel finished the India innings with a six, Samson and Tilak combined for 66 runs in 6.5 overs to set the stage for a final flourish.
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