Asia Cup T20 : India vs Sri Lanka

Virat Kohli, Yuvraj Singh Take Team Into Final

Yuvraj Singh and Virat Kohli batted with responsibility in the India vs Sri Lanka tie.

© AFP

India entered the final of the Asia Cup after defeating Sri Lanka by five wickets on Tuesday. Virat Kohli (56*) and Yuvraj SIngh (35) were the stars with the bat. Earlier, Indian bowlers restricted Sri Lanka to 138/9. Catch all highlights of the match here. 

Virat Kohli was declared the Man of the Match for his unbeaten half-century. "Always nice to challenge yourself in the middle. I am striking the ball well. You should always make the bowler bowl to your strength," Kohli said.

Mahendra Singh Dhoni, India captain, said: "Yuvraj Singh's innings was very crucial. He played for the team," he said. "We are using the same playing XI as we feel playing three seamers is good enough."

After the match, Yuvraj Singh said: "It's not a easy wicket to bat. We are working very hard to be a consistent team. I needed those hits for my confidence. Not the easiest wicket to bat on, you need to go there and give yourself some time. My job was to go and play the situation, this game and the last game. Just happy I'm hitting the ball well,"

22:20 IST: India WIN!! Virat Kohli flicks Herath for a four to bring up a five -wicket win. India 142/5 (19.2 overs)
22:19 IST: A six from Dhoni and a four from Kohli and India need one off the final over.
22:14 IST: ANOTHER WICKET! Pandya Out. He is bowled by Rangana Herath. Indian batsmen committing bit of hara-kiri. India 125/5 (17.5 ov.)
22:09 IST:WICKET! Yuvraj Singh (35) out. He attempts a hook and top-edges to Kuasekara off Perera. India 121/4 (16.5 ov)
22:06 IST: Kohli hits Perera for a four and the equation comes down to 23 off 23 balls. Kohli has crossed 40, 73 per cent of the times he score 40 + Indian wins !

22:00 IST: India 105/3 after 15 overs. Need 35 off 30 balls to win
21:58 IST: SIX!! Yuvraj Singh slices under the delivery from Thisara Perera to lift that high over cover point. He then gets a reprieve as Jayasuriya misses a tough catch.
21:55 IST: India's run-rate slowly climbing to seven per over. Asking rate 7.16 now. India 96/3 (14 ov.)
21:51 IST: Yuvraj and Kohli need to maintain this strike-rate for India's good. Though, Dhoni and Pandya are yet to come.
21:46 IST:First SIX of Indian innings! That's vintage Yuvi there, as he picks up Rangana Herath early as sends the ball over his head to the long-on region. AND HE DOES IT AGAIN. He just whips it away over square leg boundary. India now need 47 off 42 balls.
21:43 IST: Yuvraj Singh comes in and hits a four!! The left-hander slashes the ball over backward point. And then takes a single. India 77/3 (12 ov.)
21:38 IST: WICKET!! Raina (25) gone. Dasun Shanaka strikes with his first ball as Raina tries to hit him over mid-off but the ball is short and is caught by Kulasekara.
21:37 IST: Against the two Indians don't take any risk but waste no balls either. India 70/2 (11 ov.)
21:32 IST: 50-run partnership comes up for Kohli, Raina as the latter hits a four off Chameera India 66/2 (10 ov.)
21:30 IST: Virat Kohli and Suresh Raina has now reached 46 off 37 balls. The duo has played with responsibility.
21:28 IST: Interesting fact coming up - 73.44 - Virat Kohli's average while chasing in T20Is, before this match. And he looks in perfect touch today too.
Another boundary-less over, but Kohli-Raina keeping scoreboard ticking. They take eight runs in the ninth over. India 58/2 (9ov.)

21:23 IST:India brings up 50 in eight overs. (Kohli 22*, Raina 12*)

21:21 IST: Another four there!! Kohli connects well with Chameera's fullish delivery as the ball races to cover boundary. His timing and the sound coming off the bat is just perfect!!
21:20 IST: Apart from the occasional boundaries, these two Indian batsmen rotating the strike well. India 42/2 (7 ov.)
21:17 IST: Suresh Raina not taking too much risk. He has scored one boundary only, and it seems to be right strategy for the time after India lost two quick wickets.
21:12 IST: Brilliant shot from Kohli! He reaches out to Kulasekara's wider ball and slices to four against Kulasekara. And he ends the over with a four too, this time at point!! This man is in-form India 37/2 (6 ov.)
21:08 IST: Virat Kohli is off the mark with a boundary against Mathews. He times it well and finds a gap at midwicket. He takes a run and Raina plays it simple in the next two balls. India 25/2 (5 ov.)
21:06 IST: Suresh Raina ends the third over with a four in the mid wicket region. India 20/2 (4 ov.)
21:02 IST: WICKET! Rohit Sharma ( 15) gone! Big wicket there, Rohit goes for a drive but Kulasekara's balls seams away slightly aand takes a edge to be caught by Kapugedara India 16/2 (3.2 ov.)
21:00 IST: Virat Kohli is at the crease but Rohit steals the limelight with a four against Mathews at mid-on. And then rotates the strikes. Kohli plays it safe and blocks both the deliveries he faced. India 16/1 (3 ov.)
20:56 IST: WICKET!! Dhawan (1) gone. The left-hander misjudges the line of the delivery and goes for a cover drive against Nuwan, but gets a thick edge and is caught by Dinesh Chandimal. India 11/1 (2 ov.)
20:55 IST: FOUR! Rohit at it again, as after three dot balls against Kulasekara the in-form Indian hits a boundary.
20:50 IST: Big appeal there against Rohit Sharma , but it turns out to be damp squib! And Rohit answers with a boundary!! India 6/0 ( 1ov.)
20:49 IST: Shikhar Dhawan takes strike against Mathews and he blocks the first delivery. And the left0hander steals a quick single to get off the mark.
20:48 IST: We're back!!

20:33 IST:Sri Lanka post 138/9 in 20 overs. Run out off the last ball of Sri Lankan innings as Kulasekara (13) falls short of the crease while trying to sneak in an extra run.
20:30 IST: Couple of boundaries from Kulasekara against Nehra and Sri Lanka eyeing 140-run mark.
20:29 IST: TV replays show Perera's bat was inside the crease but on-field umpire raised his fingers. Unlucky there!!
20:25 IST:STUMPED! Perera (17) out. Ashwin bowls a delivery so wide that the batsman misses it completely while going for a slog and MS Dhoni has ample time to stump him. SL 125/8 (18.5 overs)

20:21 IST: Thisara Perera is unaffected though as he comes in a hits Bumrah for two consecutive fours - one at long-off and the other at midwicket.
20:18 IST:WICKET!! Kapugedara (30) gone. He hits a drive against Bumrah and is caught by Pandya at the sweeper cover. SL 105/7 (17.2 ov.)
20:14 IST!!RUN OUT! Shanaka run out off a free-hit, can you believe it! Shanaka slogs Ashwin's low full toss to midwicket and goes for a runs. Rohit returns a good throw and Shanaka is clearly way short
20:11 IST:WICKET! Siriwardana (22) gone. The Sri Lankan goes after Ashwin's off-ish delivery and is caught by Suresh Raina at long-on. SL 101/5 (16.1 overs)
20:09 IST: Sri Lanka reached 100-run mark in 16 overs.
20:08 IST: Sri Lanka have 46 runs in last five overs. They are desperate now to go after the Indian bowlers. Siriwardana goes for a huge shot against Pandya but Kohli fields brilliantly to stop the ball from going to the boundary.
20:04 IST: Ashwin in the attack. This has been a rather quiet for the ace spinner. And he is hit by Kapugedara for a four in the cover region. SL 91/4 (15 ov.)
20:01 IST: Raina joins the attack and Kapugedara hits him for a four towards the backward square leg boundary. And for the first time Sri Lanka's run-rate has touched six per over. SL 84/4 (14 ov.)
19:57 IST:FOUR!! Siriwardana hits Jadeja again, this time a four in the third man region. This is turning out to be a good over for Sri Lanka. SL 75/4 (13 ov.)
19:56 IST: SIX!! This is the first six of the match as Siriwardana goes after Jadeja and hits him straight for a big hit.
19:50 IST:WICKET! Pandya scalps Mathews (18). This is a big wicket as Pandya gets a thick inside edges off the Sri Lankan captain as the ball rattles the stumps. SL 57/4 (11 ov.)
19:49 IST: Mathews is going after Pandya. Another four there.
19:46 IST: Sri Lanka completes 50 is 10.1 overs as Mathews hits Pandya for a four. Pandya picked three wickets in the match against Pakistan but here he needs to be more economical.
19:45 IST: FOUR! Ravindra Jadeja has a bad start as he is slogged by Angle Mathews in the long off region. Sri Lanka 47/3 (10 overs)
19:42 IST: Hardik Pandya gives away just six runs off his second over. SL 41/3 (9 ov.)

19:36 IST: Indian bowlers have succeeded to keep Sri Lankan batsmen subdued. Yuvraj brought in attack, and only three runs in his first over.
19:31 IST: OUT!! Dilshan (18) gone! Hardik Pnadya gets a wicket with his first ball of the match. The youngster bowls a bouncer, but Dilshan mistimed pull lands the ball in Ashwin's hand at fine leg. Sri Lanka 31/3 (6.1 ov.)
But before his dismissal Dilshan achieved a feat, he is now the second highest run-scorer in T20Is going past Martin Guptill (1666 run), Brendon McCullum is on top with 2140 runs.

19:30 IST: Sri Lanka's run rate just over five-run per over mark after six overs.
19:27 IST: FOUR!! Dilshan punishes Bumrah's poor delivery with a boundary in the fine leg region. Dhawan tries hard but cannot stop the ball.
19:23 IST: Nehra appeals against Kapugedara, but umpire looks away. And there he appeals again, against the same batsman. While in the first delivery, the ball looked to miss the stump, in the second delivery, replays showed it would have hit the middle stump. Unlucky there. SL 22/2 (5 ov)

19:16 IST:OUT!! Shehan Jayasuriya gone!! It was late appeal by Bumrah as his delivery swings a bit and gets a thin edge off Jayasuriya. SL 15/2 (3.4 ov.)
19:14 IST: Sri Lanka play it safe after Chandimal's dimissal. Four singles there. SL 9/1 (3 ov.)
19:10 IST:Chandimal out!! Nehra gives India a brilliant start as Chandimal aims to bang Nehra's good length delivery hard but gets a thin edge and is caught by MS Dhoni. SL 6/1 (2.2 ov.)
19:07 IST: Bumrah constantly troubling Chandimal. The medium pacer is maintaining a good line. Only one run off that over. SL 5/0 (2 ov.)
19:04 IST: Jasprit Bumrah will bowl now. The youngster has been impressive. Dilshan blocks the delivery well.
19:03 IST: BIG APPEAL there by Nehra for a LBW against Chandimal. Umpire not interested. Bit of inside edge. SL: 4/0 (1 ov.)
19:01 IST: FOUR!! Chandimal sends the ball to the ropes with a cover drive. Just the second ball of the first over.
19:00 IST: IT STARTS. Nehra opens bowling for India, Dinesh Chandimal on strike.
18:58 IST: After their loss to Bangladesh, it's a must-win situation for Sri Lanka as they are third in the points table. India on the other hand have won both their matches - against Bangladesh and Pakistan, to be at the top.
18:54 IST: Interesting stat: 3 - No. of tosses won by India in recent four T20Is. Men in Blue had called it right once in 13 T20Is before that.
18:50 IST:Angelo Mathews, after the toss: I wanted to bowl first because of the dew. We have to fire today, and to win we have to score runs. We come in as the underdogs and have nothing to lose. We'll take this seriously, we are trying to settle down before the World T20.
18:44 IST: SL XI: Chandimal, Dilshan, S Jayasuriya, Mathews, Siriwardana, Kapugedera, Perera, Shanaka, Kulasekara, Chameera, Herath
18:41 IST:MS Dhoni, after the toss: "We'll have to wait and see how the pitch behaves. A bit less grass on this wicket, more suitable for the batsman. Good preparation this tournament (for the World Cup). Fortunate to have so many games before the World T20. But you want to win games, it takes the pressure of the youngsters, they'll learn to react under pressure.
18:36 IST: IND XI: S Dhawan, RG Sharma, V Kohli, S Raina, Y Singh, MS Dhoni, H Pandya, R Jadeja, R Ashwin, J Bumrah, A Nehra
18:31 IST: India have won the toss and have opted to bowl. MS Dhoni's team has made one change - Shikhar Dhawan to play in place of Ajinkya Rahane. Sri Lanka's Lasith Malinga hasn't recovered from knee injury and will not play
18:29 IST: Little bit of grass on the pitch. Will MS Dhoni like it?

.@ImRo45 is warming up with some knocking ahead of #IndvSL#AsiaCuphttps://t.co/4ac57eUf6a
— BCCI (@BCCI) March 1, 2016

18:24 IST: Rohit Sharma, who had an x-ray before the Sri Lanka match, is fit. He batted for quite some time at the stadium today, ahead of the big game.

India have lost just once in their last eight T20 internationals while Sri Lanka have lost six. Will India vs Sri Lanka clash live up to the hype?

Unbeaten India are a win away from virtually sealing a berth in Sunday's final of the 2016 Asia Cup twenty20. Sri Lanka are not in a happy position at all. The defeat against Bangladesh have put enormous pressure on the defending champions. Matches against India and Pakistan (on Friday) will be like knockout games.

India have lost just once in their last eight T20 internationals while Sri Lanka have lost six. India have looked the best team in the competition and outstanding fielding has added muscle to sensible batting and good bowling. The MS Dhoni-led team has been on song and look high on morale.

The wins against Bangladesh and Pakistan have underlined India's ability to pull out of trouble. Virat Kohli's 49 against Pakistan was particularly impressive. India's all-round ability explains why they remain on top of the table.

Sri Lanka have hardly looked like champions. The failure of Tillakaratne Dilshan and Angelo Mathews to take responsibility in the post-Sangakkara/Jayawardene era has hurt a team that is rebuilding itself. There is enough experience in the bowling - Lasith Malinga, Nuwan Kulasekara and Rangana Herath - but Lanka's batting has been a huge letdown.

Injuries have dogged both India and Sri Lanka. Malinga sat out of the last match against Bangladesh with a heavily strapped left knee. The Lankan pace spearhead and captain may not take a risk with the World T20 later this month.

Shikhar Dhawan and Rohit Sharma have niggles too. But India will not be worried as there is enough on the bench that can look Sri Lanka in the eye. Lanka beat India by six wickets in the World T20 final in Mirpur in 2014. Sangakkara scored a match-winning 52 not out (35 balls) and Jayawardene hit a run-a-ball 24. Will history repeat?

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