India romped home by 5 wickets after restricting Sri Lanka to 138 for 9 in Match 7 of Asia Cup T20 2016 at Dhaka on Tuesday. Virat Kohli and Yuvraj Singh helped India chase down the total with 4 balls remaining after Ashish Nehra, Jasprit Bumrah, and Hardik Pandya took five wickets for 76 in 21 overs between them. Ravichandran Ashwin took 2 for 26 as well. A few late big hits from Thisara Perera and Nuwan Kulasekara helped Sri Lanka make it to nearly 140. With this win, India are now through to the final. Here are the highlights from India’s match-winning chase. FULL CRICKET SCORECARD: India vs Sri Lanka, Asia Cup 2016, Match 7 at Dhaka
Nuwan Kulasekara rocks India early: It was nowhere near as explosive as Mohammad Aamer’s spell against India a few days ago, but Nuwan Kulasekara managed to take out both openers nonetheless. Shikhar Dhawan gave wicketkeeper Dinesh Chandimal catching practice to get out for 1 off 3 balls. Kulasekara then struck in his next over to remove Rohit Sharma, who was looking good having hit three boundaries. Rohit played away from the body and edged Kulasekara to Chamara Kapugedara for 15 off 14 balls. READ: Virat Kohli, Yuvraj Singh guide India to comfortable 5-wicket win over Sri Lanka, reach Asia Cup T20 2016 final
The Virat Kohli-Suresh Raina stabiliser: Things looked rocky for India once both openers were back in the hut. At 16 for 2 India were in danger of losing their way, but Virat Kohli and Suresh Raina soon turned the tide. The duo put on a calm 54 runs in around 8 overs. Both men kept the boundaries coming at regular intervals but also kept the ones and twos flowing. Raina was eventually out getting a leading edge off Dasun Shanaka to Kulasekara. He was out for 25 from 26 balls with two fours. READ: India vs Sri Lanka, Asia Cup T20 2016, Match 7 at Dhaka, Highlights from 1st innings
The Kohli-Yuvraj Singh knockout: If Kohli and Raina helped stabilise India’s chase, the partnership between Kohli and Yuvraj Singh all but decided the outcome of the match. The partnership yielded 51 runs, but it came in just 34 balls. By the time Yuvraj was dismissed India needed only 17 runs off 19 balls.
Yuvraj finds his groove: Yuvraj remained unbeaten in India’s chase against Pakistan, but scored an unattractive 14 off 32 balls. This time around he almost inverted those numbers; his 35 came off 18 balls. More importantly, Yuvraj looked in complete control. He played some vintage shots all around the ground — there was a slash over point for four, consecutive sixes of Rangana Herath over long on and midwicket, a six over cover, a pulled four to fine leg, and another four to mid-off. As Mathew Hayden said in commentary, Yuvraj’s old swagger was back. That alone is perhaps the biggest positive for India to take away from the match.
Virat Kohli guides India home again: For the second match in a row Kohli played a Man of the Match-winning innings to guide India’s chase. Last time it was 49 off 51 balls in an incredibly high-pressure situation, but this time he remained unbeaten on 56 off 47 balls. The innings may not have been as memorable as the one against Pakistan, but it was no less vital.
(Shiamak Unwalla, a reporter with CricketCountry, is an animal lover and comic, film and TV geek. A fast bowler at heart, he loves watching a good, low-scoring game of cricket. His Twitter handle is @ShiamakUnwalla)
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