However, just as things seemed to be going well for India, Sri Lankan skipper Dasun Shanaka called in left-arm spinner Dunith Wellalage, and he promptly retaliated. The prized victims that the 20-year-old took down were Gill (19 out of 25), Virat Kohli (3 out of 12), and Rohit (53 out of 48). After losing three wickets in quick succession, the innings was stabilised by a 63-run partnership between Ishan Kishan (33 off 61) and KL Rahul (39 off 44) for the fourth wicket.
On Tuesday, September 12 at the R.Premadasa Stadium in Colombo, Match 4 of the Asia Cup 2023 Super 4 saw India and Sri Lanka square off. Rohit Sharma, the captain of India, won the toss and decided to bat first. He and Shubman Gill gave their team a strong start. Similar to the last game, the pair put the opposition under pressure as they combined for 80 runs for the first wicket off of 67 balls.
However, Wellalage struck for his team once again when he removed Rahul to end the stand, putting India on 154/4 after 30 overs. India thereafter experienced a spectacular collapse, being limited to 186/9. In 49.1 overs, Axar Patel scored a useful knock of 26 (36) to help India reach 213 all out. With his stint of (5/40) in ten overs, Wellalage was Sri Lanka’s best bowler, and Charith Asalanka (4/18, 9 overs) also picked up a four-fer.
Pathum Nissanka (6 off 7) and Kusal Mendis (15 off 16) were both dismissed early in Sri Lanka’s reply by Jasprit Bumrah. After 7.1 overs, Sri Lanka was 25/3 when Mohammed Siraj removed Dimuth Karunaratne (2 off 18) from the attack. Charith Asalanka (22 off 35) and Sadeera Samarawickrama (17 off 31) scored 43 runs for the fourth wicket to stabilise the innings after three early blows.
However, after 25.1 overs, Sri Lanka was reduced to 99/6 thanks to three wickets shared by Kuldeep Yadav and Ravindra Jadeja. As he and Dhananjaya de Silva (41 off 66) accumulated 63 runs for the seventh wicket, Dunith Wellalage started challenging India with the bat. In the 38th over, Ravindra Jadeja helped his team out by removing de Silva from the game.
No other hitter could sustain Dunith Wellalage (42* off 46) after that, and when Sri Lanka were all out for 172, India won by a margin of 41 runs.
As a consequence, India qualified for the Asia Cup 2023 final while Sri Lanka’s winning streak of 13 straight ODIs was snapped. For the second day in a row, Kuldeep Yadav was India’s top bowler, finishing with 4/43 in 9.3 overs, while Jasprit Bumrah and Ravindra Jadeja both claimed two wickets.
Reactions to India’s victory were rife on X at the time. Some of the posts are as follows:
Sri Lanka vs Pakistan is now a straight shootout – whoever wins will meet India in the Final. If SL vs Pak is washed out, Sri Lanka will qualify for the final. #AsiaCup23
— Mazher Arshad (@MazherArshad) September 12, 2023
Well done team India. Hard fought win makes you a better team… #INDvsSL
— Irfan Pathan (@IrfanPathan) September 12, 2023
India is just 1 wicket away from closing this game out. However, I can’t help but admire DDS’s skill against Spin, he is rarely caught on the move and most importantly the angle of his bat is always with the spin.👏👏 #AsiaCup23 #INDvSL
I don’t want to talk about Dunith…
— Ashwin 🇮🇳 (@ashwinravi99) September 12, 2023
This is high class from bumrah #INDvSL
— Mohammad Kaif (@MohammadKaif) September 12, 2023
Unbelievable slower ball from Bumrah.🔥🔥🔥🔥#AsiaCup2023 #INDvSL
— Ashwin 🇮🇳 (@ashwinravi99) September 12, 2023
Kuldeep Yadav becomes the 2nd fastest Indian after Shami to take 150 ODI wickets for India.
– Kuldeep the superstar!#INDvSL #AsiaCup23 pic.twitter.com/0bMtWzjXRS
— No Context Cricket (@nocontextcric_) September 12, 2023
My heart goes out to the 20-year-old Dunith Wellalage! 😔🙌
He was on fire with a fantastic performance – 5/40 with the ball and a solid 42* (46) with the bat. He gave it his all against the best team, but unfortunately couldn’t take them home. #INDvSL pic.twitter.com/vZNX14Fy2m
— Vipin Tiwari (@vipintiwari952) September 12, 2023
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