India storm into the 2023 Asia Cup finals edging past Sri Lanka in a thriller

India confirmed their ticket to the 2023 Asia Cup final as they secured another thrilling win after an oscillating encounter against Sri Lanka that saw their batting unit coming a cropper while their bowlers pulled off a heroic display to ensure their way forward.

Winning the toss, India opted to bat first and Rohit Sharma was off to an absolute blinder as he started taking the Lankan bowlers completely out of the equation. He smashed a quickfire half-century and knitted together an 80-run stand with Shubman Gill for the opening pair before Sri Lanka clawed their way back through Dunith Wellalage.

Despite another resolute stand for the fourth wicket between KL Rahul (39) and Ishan Kishan (33), India couldn’t fend off Dunith Wellalage as his mind-blowing numbers of 10-1-40-5 left the Men in Blue tottering. A resilient 27-run partnership between Axar Patel and Mohammed Siraj got India to 213, giving their bowlers something to fight back with. Charith Asalanka was also instrumental with the ball, clinching a four-fer.

The Indian bowlers got into business straightaway as Jasprit Bumrah dealt a double whammy as he removed Pathum Nissanka and Kusal Mendis, while Mohammed Siraj induced a sharp outside edge from the blade of Dimuth Karunaratne that flew into the hands of Shubman Gill at first slip, leaving the hosts struggling at 25/3. 

Sadeera Samarawickrama and Charith Asalanka did try and stave away the Indian infringements, only to be blunted by Kuldeep Yadav in a span of 11 balls. Dasun Shanaka’s desperate bid to hang out in the center alongside Dhananjaya de Silva was also cut short by Ravindra Jadeja as India clinched Sri Lanka’s sixth wicket within just 99 runs.

What should have been a pretty straightforward win for the Indians suddenly started turning into a complicated affair as Dunith Wellalage came forth with another gem of a display, this time with the bat in his hands. Battling alongside Dhananjaya de Silva, Wellalage knitted a stand of 63 runs which did instill fears in the hearts of the Indians before Jadeja finally produced that all-important breakthrough, sending the right-hander back to the pavilion.

After that dismissal, it was just a span of 10 runs in which Sri Lanka lost all their wickets as they were skittled out for 172, enabling India’s 41-run win to cement their berth in the grand finale of the Asia Cup 2023. Kuldeep Yadav was once again the pick of the lot for Indian bowling, clinching four wickets at the expense of 43 runs.