India withstand Wellalage’s all-round prowess to reach Asia Cup final
Having picked up his career-best ODI figures of 5-40 to derail India’s batting earlier in the day, Dunith Wellalage then top-scored with 42 not out but the efforts weren’t enough as Sri Lanka fell short by 41 runs in a riveting Asia Cup contest on Tuesday in Colombo. (September 12). This result ensures a berth in the final for India while Sri Lanka faces a virtual knockout clash against Pakistan for the other spot in the summit clash. The target of 214 was clearly under-par but the surface also wasn’t the easiest of decks to bat on. There was excessive turn and variable bounce on offer but before that, the new ball was a challenge under lights. Jasprit Bumrah made full use of that to remove Pathum Nissanka and Kusal Mendis cheaply. It was the perfect start that India sought after a shoddy batting performance. Mohammed Siraj then removed the seasoned Dimuth Karunaratne to have Sri Lanka tottering at 25/3. The platform was set for India’s spinners to take over but Sri Lanka punched back through a 43-run stand between Sadeera Samarawickrama and Charith Asalanka. They were deft in their approach against spin and rotated strike well until Kuldeep Yadav removed both batters in successive overs. The pendulum had tilted back in India’s favour and Ravindra Jadeja compounded the hosts’ misery by taking out skipper Dasun Shanaka. The score now read 99/6 and that target of 214 suddenly seemed a very long way away. Right from the World Cup qualifiers, Dhananjaya de Silva had been Sri Lanka’s crisis man on tough pitches and he got stuck in once more. He found able support from Wellalage who showed remarkable poise under immense pressure. The left-hander, clearly buoyed by his bowling success early on, held his own and along with de Silva, guided the Lankans through choppy waters with a composed 63-run stand. At 162/6, it was Sri Lanka’s game to lose with both batters set but de Silva’s brain fade moment saw him hole out to mid-on off Jadeja. It was just the opening India needed and they then wrapped up the game rather quickly with Wellalage stranded at the other end. It was a hard fought win for India who were far from their best with the bat earlier in the day. Rohit Sharma’s fluent fifty gave them a blistering start along with Shubman Gill but it didn’t take long for the Lankans to figure out that this pitch was extremely spin-friendly. Shanaka got as much spin into the attack as he could and Wellalage shone bright among the bowlers. He struck in his very first over with a peach to remove Gill and also had a wicket off his very last ball of the day in the form of Hardik Pandya. In between, he got rid of Virat Kohli and KL Rahul apart from a well-set Rohit as India lost the plot against spin. Ishan Kishan (33 off 61) had a very scratchy stay at the crease while Rahul looked the most comfortable after Rohit but Sri Lanka never allowed partnerships to develop after the 80-run opening stand. India’s batters looked out of sorts and weren’t proactive enough, thereby playing right into the hands of the Lankan spinners who were street-smart in their approach. Dhananjaya de Silva chipped in with a very frugal spell and the part-time spin of Charith Asalanka reaped four wickets as the hosts relished the conditions on offer. Maheesh Theekshana picked the last wicket to fall as India lost all 10 to spin for the first time ever in their ODI history. Axar Patel’s cameo at the back end proved to be significant as it was the reason India were able to breach the 200-run mark. In a low-scoring game on a tricky pitch, these small margins were huge in the context of the eventual result. Brief scores:
India 213 in 49.1 overs (Rohit Sharma 53; Dunith Wellalage 5-40, Charith Asalanka 4-18) beat Sri Lanka 172 in 41.3 overs (Dunith Wellalage 42*; Kuldeep Yadav 4-43, Jasprit Bumrah 2-30) by 41 runs
