COLOMBO: Kuldeep Yadav starred as India overcame a brilliant all-round effort from Sri Lanka’s Dunith Wellalage to win a tense Asia Cup clash by 41 runs on Tuesday and book a place in the final.
Kuldeep took four wickets including the final two as India defended 213, bowling out Sri Lanka for 172 to silence a large home crowd at Colombo’s R. Premadasa Stadium.
India recorded their second straight Super Four win in the 50-over tournament, a prelude to the upcoming ODI World Cup, and ended Sri Lanka’s 13-match winning streak in ODIs.
Wellalage, who claimed his maiden ODI five-wicket haul, remained unbeaten on 42 when he ran out of partners as left-arm wrist spinner Kuldeep wrapped up the opposition tail in 41.3 overs.
“Kuldeep is a great bowler, I tried to play my normal game with a positive mindset,” said Wellalage, who was named man of the match despite being on the losing team.
“I want to thank my team-mates and my coaching staff — they gave me great support.”
India skipper Rohit Sharma praised Kuldeep, who also took five wickets in his team’s previous win over Pakistan, for his rhythm and consistency.
“For the past year or so, bowling really, really well. He has done a lot of hard work on his rhythm,” said Rohit.
“He went back to the drawing board and worked on it. The ball is coming out nicely and you can see the results in the last 10 ODIs.”
It was India’s third straight day on the field after they crushed Pakistan by 228 runs on Monday in a match that was played across two days due to rain.
The next Super Four match between Sri Lanka and Pakistan on Thursday will decide the second finalists between the two teams.
Rohit, who entered an elite list of players with over 10,000 ODI runs and hit his second successive fifty, scored 53 to hand his team a brisk start but Wellalage hit back.
The 20-year-old returned figures of 5-40 including the key wickets of Rohit and Virat Kohli with strong support from part-time spinner Charith Asalanka, who claimed four victims for 18 runs.
Wellalage struck with his first ball of the match when he bowled Shubman Gill for 19 and there was no looking back for the young spinner.
He made the home fans erupt with the wicket of Kohli who fell for three a day after an unbeaten 122 against Pakistan at the same venue.
Rohit was also bowled by Wellalage who snared his third scalp in three overs.
Ishan Kishan, who made 33, and previous-match centurion KL Rahul attempted to rebuild the innings with a stand of 63.
Wellalage ended that partnership when he got Rahul caught and bowled for 39 and then took his fifth.
Asalanka kept chipping away from the other end and was on a hat-trick with India on 186-9, but Axar Patel took the total past 200 after a nearly 45-minute rain break and hit 26.
India hit back with regular wickets and Jasprit Bumrah struck twice.
Asalanka attempted to increase the run-rate but became Kuldeep’s second wicket.
Dhananjaya de Silva fought back along with Wellalage in a threatening seventh-wicket stand of 63 but Ravindra Jadeja broke the partnership with the wicket of De Silva for 41.
Wellalage effort in vain as India beat Sri Lanka to reach Asia Cup final
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Wellalage effort in vain as India beat Sri Lanka to reach Asia Cup final
- Wellalage, who claimed his maiden ODI five-wicket haul, remained unbeaten on 42
- Kuldeep Yadav took four wickets as India defended 213, bowling out Sri Lanka for 172
Desert Vipers hold nerve to edge Abu Dhabi Knight Riders in ILT20 thriller
- Key contributions from Shimron Hetmyer and Khuzaima Tanveer prove decisive as the Vipers weather tense finish to overhaul target of 171
- Knight Riders start well, reaching 87 in 10 overs, but momentum shifts in second half of their inning as the Vipers’ spinners struck back
SHARJAH: Desert Vipers made it two wins out of two in the DP World International League T20, as they held their nerve to secure a dramatic two-wicket victory over Abu Dhabi Knight Riders at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium on Friday.
Shimron Hetmyer’s counterattacking 48 off 25 balls, and a late-order cameo from Khuzaima Tanveer, who hit 31 off just 12 deliveries, proved decisive as the Vipers weathered a tense finish to overhaul a target of 171.
Sent in to bat, the Knight Riders made a confident start through Phil Salt and Alex Hales, with the latter anchoring the inning to top-score with 53 off 37 balls.
Despite reaching 87 in 10 overs, however, the momentum shifted in the second half of the inning as the Vipers’ spinners began to strike regularly. Qais Ahmad and Noor Ahmad led the middle-overs fightback, dismissing Hales and triggering a collapse as the Knight Riders lost five wickets.
Andre Russell’s unbeaten 36, and useful contributions from Alishan Sharafu and Unmukt Chand, at least helped Abu Dhabi reach a competitive total, but they were unable to fully capitalize on the side’s strong opening.
The Vipers began explosively in reply, smashing a tournament-record 19 runs from the first over. However, early wickets then left them wobbling on 44/3. Sam Curran and Dan Lawrence rebuilt the attack before the latter combined with Hetmyer for a crucial 68-run stand that swung the contest back in the their favor.
Late strikes from Ajay Kumar and Russell, the latter dismissing Hetmyer for his 500th T20 wicket, set up a tense finish, but Tanveer delivered under pressure. Needing eight runs off the final over, he sealed victory with a six and a boundary.
“It was, in many ways, a fortunate escape but an outstanding result for us,” said Curran, the Vipers’ stand-in captain.
“ADKR possess a very powerful batting lineup, and I believe our bowlers performed exceptionally well throughout the innings. The dismissals of Hetmyer and Dan introduced an unexpected twist but the team showed commendable composure in the crucial moments.”
Knight Riders’ stand-in skipper Sunil Narine felt his side had been lacking with the bat: “We were 15-20 runs short. We began well in the powerplay and that phase was crucial for us.
“The conditions eventually worked in their favor and the dew made it challenging for our spinners. But at the end of the day that’s part of the game.”
The result leaves the Vipers well placed at this early stage of the tournament, while the Knight Riders were left to reflect on missed opportunities after such a strong start.
