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That was a hard fought victory for India but they were definitely tested by an impressive Sri Lankan side. With this win, India have qualified for the final and will face the winner of the Pakistan vs Sri Lanka clash. Kuldeep Yadav continuing his dream run. It was a perfect game for India after thrashing Pakistan yesterday. Three back to back days on the field but still India coming out with flying colours. With that it's also time for us to take your leave. Till the next time, this is myself (Arya Sekhar Chakraborty) signing off also on behalf of my fellow commentator and good mate Sooryanarayanan Sesha. Goodnight! Cheers!
Dunith Wellalage is the Player of the Match for his all-round contributions of 5/40 and 42 not out. Here's what he has to say: First of all I want to congratulate the Indian team. They have so many experienced players so they did really well. Unfortunately we lost the match but we have another game. Kuldeep Yadav is a great bowler. I tried to play my normal game with positive batting. At a small age I did a lot of hard work and had a positive mindset. I want to thank my teammates and coaching staff, they gave me a lot of confidence.
Rohit Sharma (India captain): Yeah it was. For us also to play a game like that on a challenging pitch. We got challenged and it was good. It was a challenging pitch and we want to play more on these kind of surfaces. He has worked really hard on his bowling for the past few years. He has been consistently clocking 140 kph. It takes time. It looked like he could take wicket every ball. It wasn't an easy target to defend. The pitch got a bit easier towards the end. We had to hold our nerves and we did that pretty well in the end. Yeah I mean, again Kuldeep for the past year or so has been bowling very well. He worked on his rhythm. When he was not part of the squad, he has gone back to the drawing board. The ball is coming out of his hand really well.
Its time for the post-match presentation ceremony with Sanjay Manjrekar.
A stunning catch at slip by Rohit Sharma was followed by a giant hug from Virat Kohli. Here's a watch on the catch as well as the celebration from the two!👇
Dasun Shanaka (Sri Lanka captain): At the start we didn't expect this kind of a wicket. I thought it was a batting track but we came back in the match brilliantly after the first 10 overs. Especially young Dunith Wellalage, Dhananjaya de Silva and Charith Asalanka were outstanding today. The luxury of having two batters who have been bowling in the nets (helps) but luckily we had options today. (On Wellalage) If you saw the last game against Bangladesh I sensed he will do something special today. Even before the game he was speaking about taking Virat Kohli's wicket and I felt he will do something special.
Let's hear from KL Rahul: It was amazing. We were tested throughout how many ever overs we were on the field. It was a huge physical challenge for us to turn up again, third day in a row. It really tested us physically but really good to see we turned up again and gave it our best. And our intensity on the field was really good. (On his batting) Always happy when I contribute for the team. When you're batting in the middle-order the most important thing is to get a few partnerships going and that's what gives the team a good total to bowl at. I've been out for four or five months and I'll take anything that comes. Good partnership with Ishan. Third day in a row playing at the same venue - a bit of spin but we managed pretty well. Maybe 20 or 30 runs short in the end but we got off to a great start. Maybe a few more partnership would have got us to that 230-240 mark but a good learning for us. (On his conversations with Kuldeep Yadav) It's been good - I'm not going to take any credit for the wickets that he's taken, he's still got to execute his skill. From behind the stumps you obviously get a good idea on where the batter is looking to play. I passed on the message and luckily it paid off for Kuldeep and the team. It happened yesterday against Pakistan as well. That's how you build trust in the team and have faith in each other.
India were tested but they have come out with flying colours, winning this clash by 41 runs to all but seal their spot for the final slated to be played on September 17 (Sunday). It was a clinical effort with the ball and barring Axar Patel, everyone rose to the occasion and bowled India to a stunning victory. Kuldeep Yadav again finishing it off with a couple of clean up jobs. His dream run continues as he finishes with 4. There was a couple of partnerships which tested India at times but they were just too good in the end.
The Indian pace duo Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj were superb in their opening spell and made the opening duo dance to their tunes. After a few play and misses, it was Bumrah who nicked out Nissanka with a beautiful away swinger before deceiving Kusal Mendis with an immaculate slower delivery. Mohammed Siraj added one more in the very next over as India was well on top. On 25/3, Sri Lanka were on the mat but it was the partnership between Sadeera Samarawickrama and Charith Asalanka which resurrected the sinking ship.
However, a brain fade moment from Sadeera saw him depart at a crucial juncture. Asalanka also followed his partner back in the hut as Kuldeep started making an impact yet again. Ravindra Jadeja turned the ball right from ball one and made life difficult for the batters. He dismissed Dasun Shanaka with a superb delivery before Dunith Wellalage and Dhananjaya de Silva put the pressure back on India with a brilliant stand.
Both batted superbly and also found the boundaries in important moments of the game. Wellalage in particular was quite impressive, eventually remaining unbeaten on 42 off 46 deliveries. De Silva was dismissed by Jadeja just when it looked like Sri Lanka was running away with the game. It was substitute fielder Suryakumar Yadav who took the brilliant catch of Maheesh Theekshana. From there on it was a clean-up job from Kuldeep Yadav, as he again finished with 4 wickets.
41.3 Kuldeep Yadav to Matheesha Pathirana, BOWLED HIM! It's all over! Tossed up very full on middle stump and Pathirana sits low attempting to paddle a sweep around the corner. Plays outside the line and the ball just sneaks through between his feet to crash into the stumps. Poor Wellalage is left stranded at the non-striker's end as Kuldeep picks up his 150th ODI wicket! What a cracker we've witnessed though as India win by 41 runs to qualify for the final of the Asia Cup 2023! Bangladesh are officially eliminated from the race as a result of this.
Matheesha Pathirana b Kuldeep Yadav 0 (2b, 0x4, 0x6)
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R.Premadasa Stadium, Khettarama, Colombo
