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India edge Sri Lanka in Super Over after Nissanka’s heroics
Colombo Sep.27 (Daily Mirror) - After an Asia Cup dominated by one-sided contests, the final Super Four dead rubber turned into a thriller, as Sri Lanka came agonisingly close to chasing down India’s daunting 202/5. Pathum Nissanka’s sparkling century and Dasun Shanaka’s late blitz carried them to an identical total, forcing the contest into a Super Over.
The decider, however, proved an anti-climax. Sri Lanka mustered just two runs, with Arshdeep Singh dismissing Kusal Perera off the first ball before Kamindu Mendis and Shanaka failed to connect, the latter falling for a duck. In response, India needed only one delivery as skipper Suryakumar Yadav and Shubman Gill sealed the win with ease.
Earlier, Nissanka’s whirlwind 107 nearly took Sri Lanka home before Harshit Rana, handed the task of defending 12 off the final over, conceded 11 to drag the match into the Super Over. The opener’s explosive 57-ball knock, studded with seven fours and six sixes, was complemented by Kusal Perera’s fluent 58 off 32 in a 127-run second-wicket partnership. But Varun Chakravarthy struck in the 13th over to remove Perera, triggering a mini-collapse with Charith Asalanka and Mendis departing in quick succession.
Unfazed, Nissanka kept Sri Lanka alive until Rana dismissed him first ball of the last over. Janith Liyanage, playing his only match of the tournament and Shanaka struggled to find the middle, before the former skipper edged a four over short third. With three needed off the final delivery, Shanaka could manage only two, sending the game into a dramatic finish.
Earlier, with their final berth against Pakistan already secured, India used the clash to test the middle order. Riding Abhishek Sharma’s third straight half-century, the Men in Blue racked up a tournament-best 202/5 at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium.
Asked to bat, Abhishek (61 off 31) exploded in the powerplay, racing to a 22-ball fifty and dismantled the Lankan attack. His fiery knock, combined with a brisk fifty-run stand alongside Suryakumar Yadav (12 off 13), helped India race to 100/3 by the halfway stage. Despite both departing soon after the powerplay, the platform was firmly set for the highest total of the continental showpiece.
Sanju Samson (39) and Tilak Varma (49 not out), who anchored the innings, stitched together another fifty-run partnership to keep the scoreboard ticking. After Samson’s dismissal, Tilak carried on, batting through the innings, while Axar Patel (21 not out off 12) provided the finishing touches with a late cameo that pushed India past the 200-run mark.
For already-eliminated Sri Lanka, sporadic wickets and sloppy fielding hurt their cause, leaving them with a mountain to climb even as Nissanka’s heroics failed to get them over the line.
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