India registered a comprehensive 41-run victory over Sri Lanka despite posting a modest total on the board in the Asia Cup 2023 Super-4 clash at R Premadasa Stadium, Colombo on Tuesday (September 12).
Opting to bat first, the Men in Blue managed to score 213/10 in 49.1 overs as left-arm spinner Dunith Wellalage ran through the Indian batting line-up with a five-wicket haul (5/40).
However, the Indian bowlers fought back hard in the second half to bundle out the hosts for a paltry 172 in 41.3 overs. The Lankan batters found it tough to tackle the Indian fast bowlers as well as spinners.
While Jasprit Bumrah (2-30) and Mohammed Siraj (1-17) produced fantastic spells with the new ball, Hardik Pandya (1-14) bowled an economical spell in the middle overs and Kuldeep Yadav (4-43) and Ravindra Jadeja (2-33) ran through Sri Lanka’s middle and lower-order.
It was the third consecutive day on the park for Rohit Sharma and his men after rain forced the Indian-Pakistan clash to go into the reserve day.
No wonder, India wicketkeeper-batter KL Rahul acknowledged after the Sri Lanka game that three days of continuous action tested the players physically.
"It was amazing, we were trusted throughout. We were not on the field for 100 overs but how many ever overs we were there it tested us physically, great to see we turned up today and gave it our best. We turned up and that is a big tick mark for us as a team," Rahul said in the post-match presentation.
Rahul played a crucial knock of 39 and stitched a 63-run partnership for the fourth wicket with Ishan Kishan when India were struggling at 91/3.
"Always happy when I contribute to the team, when you are batting in the middle order it is important to build partnerships. I have been out for 4-5 months, I will take anything that comes, it was a crucial partnership with Kishan," Rahul said about his contribution, before adding that India were 20-30 runs short in their innings.
"Third day in a row playing at the same venue, bit of spin but we managed it really well, we were 20-30 runs short, few more partnerships could have got us to 230-240," he remarked.
Talking about his keeping role, Rahul said: "When you are behind the stumps, you have a good idea as to what the batter is doing and I just passed on the message, luckily it worked for Kuldeep (referring to his tip to Kuldeep before Samarawickrama's dismissal)."
With this victory, the Indian team qualified for the Asia Cup 2023 final and will face the winner of Sri Lanka versus match in the summit clash in Colombo on Sunday (September 17).
