India went ahead of everyone in the race for the final. Rohit Sharma’s team took a step towards winning the title by defeating Sri Lanka on Tuesday. On the contrary, Sri Lanka’s winning run has stopped. After winning 13 consecutive matches, Dasun Shanaka’s team got the bitter taste of defeat. At the same time, the equation of the final game became difficult.
Dunith Wallalag’s all-round performance failed. He could not win the team despite performing equally well in bat and ball. 5 wickets that broke the backbone of India’s innings with the ball and 42 unbeaten runs with the bat, all went in vain. Chasing 214 runs, Sri Lanka lost by 41 runs.
Earlier, however, Sri Lanka was dreaming of an easy victory by restricting India to a few runs. Considering modern cricket, it can also be said to be an easy target. But the Indian bowlers make that dream difficult. The Lankan batsmen did not stand still and picked up wickets at regular intervals. The team’s total lost 6 wickets before reaching three figures.
The Lankans lost 3 wickets in just 25 runs chasing runs. Jasprit Bumrah took 2 of them. He broke the opening pair by returning Pathum Nishanka for 6 runs in the third over. Kushal Mendis (15) was also caught by this pacer. Mohammad Siraj showed Dimuth Karunaratne the way to Sajghar in the eighth over. Only 2 runs came from his bat after playing 18 balls.
Sadira Samarawickrama and Charith Asalanka tried to save Sri Lanka in the dust. Made a pair of 43 runs off 62 balls. Both were returned by Kuldeep Yadav. First he broke this pair of 43 runs by returning Sadira. The batsman who scored two fifties in the previous three matches scored 17 runs off 31 balls.
Asalanka returned after adding five more runs. He scored 22 runs off 35 balls. Lankans lost 5 wickets in 19.2 overs. Dasun Shanaka returned with 9 runs before the team reached 100 runs. Dhananjaya de Silva and Wallalage pulled the team from there.
Together, the two began to put the broken dream back together, taking the team past the 150-run barrier. When the team was 162 runs, then Ravindra Jadeja broke this pair. The pair of 63 runs was broken by Silver’s departure. Thiksanao (2) quickly returned. Kuldeep confirmed the defeat of the Lankans by picking up a pair of wickets in the next over. Sri Lanka lost 4 wickets for 10 runs.
Wallalage could not win the team by fighting alone. He was unbeaten on 42 runs off 46 balls.
Meanwhile, Kuldeep took 4 wickets for India. This spinner took 5 wickets against Pakistan in the previous match. Bumrah and Jadeja took a pair of wickets.
Before this, seeing the reverse side of the coin, India somehow crossed the 200-run barrier. Earlier in the day against Pakistan, where he scored a record 356 runs, he was all out against Sri Lanka for just 213 runs in 49.1 overs. Every run against the Lankan spinners is worth more than gold.
Wallalage started it, Asalanka pulled the end. These two spinners have brought down the collapse in the India camp. They took 9 out of 10 wickets in the innings. The other one is another spinner Thiksaner. Hasaranga may be regretting watching his teammates’ feats while sitting in front of the TV.
However, India got off to a good start in Colombo by winning the toss. The opening pair scored 80 runs in 11 overs. But it was after that that the obstacle struck. In the 12th over, Wallalage broke India’s opening partnership with his first ball. Shubman returns Gill for 19 runs. Then Kohli came to the field, but Wallalage did not let him last.
Return this batter in his next over. Kohli, the centurion of the previous match, could not reach double figures today. He got out with 4 runs off 12 balls. India lost 2 wickets for 90 runs.
In the next over, in his third over, the Indian captain Rohit Sharma, who picked up a fifty, was sent back to Wallalag. Rohit, who was in terrific form, was out for 53 off 48 balls. After a good start, India lost 3 wickets in just 11 runs, so India fell under pressure.
Losing 3 wickets for 91 runs, Lokesh Rahul and Ishan Kishan were trying to organize the innings of India. However, this pair broke after adding 63 runs. Wallalag hit again, bring back Rahul. The batsman who scored a century against Pakistan did not let the innings get bigger. 39 runs from 44 balls came from Rahul’s bat.
Wallalage took his personal fifth wicket in the 35th over. Picked up the wicket of Hardik Pandya. Hardik scored 5 runs off 18 balls. Meanwhile, Asalanka converted Ishan Kishan for his first wicket, Ishan scored 33 runs from 61 balls.
Asalanka then sent back Jadeja (4), Bumrah (5) and Kuldeep before scoring any runs. As a result, India lost 9 wickets from 154 to 186 for 3 wickets. That is, at that time Sri Lanka took 6 wickets with only 32 runs.
But Akshar Patel fought well in the last wicket. He kept adding runs by keeping Mohammad Siraj aside. He scored 26 runs off 36 balls before getting out in the last over.
