SL dishear‘ten’ed; Rohit-led India triumph

India (Var)made half-a-dozen changes to their playing (Pat)eleven – Tilak, Suryakumar Yadav, Axar, Shardul Thakur, Mohammed Shami, and Prasidh Krishna made way for Virat Kohli, Hardik Pandya, Washington Sundar, Jasprit Bumrah, Kuldeep Yadav (the player of the series), and Mohammed Siraj (the player of the match).

Sri Lanka made (Dimu)three changes to the eleven that last played the Indians – Karunaratne, Maheesh Theekshana, and Kasun Rajitha made way for Kusal Perera, Dusan Hemantha, and Pramod Madushan.

On winning the toss, Dasun Shanaka, Sri Lanka’s skipper, chose to bat.

There was rain before the start of play. Therefore, the ground was wet.

The first Powerplay of Sri Lanka’s innings – which was the mandatory Powerplay – was between the first and the 10^th over. They scored 31, and lost half-a-dozen wickets.

Perera, who faced a couple of balls, didn’t get off the mark. Three balls into the match, he was caught by Lokesh Rahul. Bumrah broke the one-run stand.

Pathum Nissanka, who faced four balls, scored a couple. Sixteen balls later, he was caught by Ravindra Jadeja. Needless to say, Siraj was in seventh heaven.

The third-wicket pair didn’t get off the mark. Twenty-one balls into the match, Sri Lanka sought a batting review. They challenged the decision for a wicket. Sadeera Samarawickrama, the batsman, faced a couple of balls, failing to open his account. It was struck down by English umpire Richard Illingworth. A couple of balls later, he was trapped leg before wicket by Siraj.

The fourth-wicket pair didn’t get off the mark. Charith Asalanka, who faced a ball, didn’t open his account. The next ball, he was caught by Ishan Kishan off the bowling of Siraj.

Dhananjaya de Silva, who faced a couple of balls, scored four. His runs came by way of a boundary. A couple of balls later, he was caught by Rahul. Siraj broke the four-run stand.

The sixth-wicket pair didn’t get off the mark. Shanaka, who faced four balls, didn’t get off the mark. Ten balls later, he was dismissed by Siraj.

The second Powerplay of Sri Lanka’s innings – which was the mandatory Powerplay – was between the 11^th and the 40^th over. They scored 19, and lost four wickets.

Kusal Mendis, whose 34-ball innings included three boundaries, scored 17. Thirty-four balls after Shanaka’s dismissal, Siraj broke the 21-run stand.

Dunith Wellalage, who faced 21 balls, scored just eight. Seven balls later, he was caught by Rahul. Hardik broke the run-a-ball stand.

Sri Lanka scored 50 off 14.1 overs (85 balls). India had conceded five extras at that point. That was, incidentally, the number of extras they eventually conceded.

Hemantha, whose 15-ball innings included a boundary, scored 13. He was unbeaten.

Madushan, who faced half-a-dozen balls, scored a run. Sixteen balls after Wellelage’s dismissal, he was caught by Kohli. Hardik broke the 10-run stand.

The last-wicket pair didn’t get off the mark. Matheesha Pathirana, who faced a ball, didn’t get off the mark. The next ball, he was caught by Kishan off the bowling of Hardik.

Sri Lanka were bundled out for 50 off 15.2 overs.

Kuldeep, who bowled a wicketless over, conceded a run.

Bumrah bowled five overs, including a maiden. He conceded 23, picking up a wicket.

Hardik, who bowled 2.2 overs, conceded three. He picked up three wickets.  

Siraj, whose spell included a maiden, had a reason to be in seventh heaven – he conceded 21, picking up half-a-dozen scalps.

The first Powerplay of India’s innings – which was the mandatory Powerplay – was between the first and the 10^th over. They scored.

India’s openers scored 50 off half-a-dozen overs (36 balls). Sri Lanka had conceded an extra at that point. That was, incidentally, the number of extras they eventually conceded. While Kishan’s contribution to the partnership was 22, Shubman Gill’s contribution to it was 27.

Kishan, whose 18-ball innings included three boundaries, eventually scored 23. Gill, whose 19-ball innings included half-a-dozen boundaries, didn’t add to the aforementioned score. Both were unbeaten.

India, who scored 51 without the loss of a wicket off 6.1 overs, won by 10 wickets with 263 balls to spare.

Obviously, the Sri Lankan bowlers were wicketless.

Asalanka bowled a ball, conceding a run.

Madushan and Pathirana bowled a couple of overs each, conceding 21 apiece.

Wellalage bowled a couple of overs, had no reason to be in seventh heaven.

India won the 2023 Asia Cup.