Asia Cup highlights: Kumar Sangakkara orchestrates Sri Lanka's two-wicket win over India

Sri Lanka go top of points table with two wicket win over India at Fatullah. Catch all the highlights here (Match Scorecard | Text Commentary | Asia Cup Schedule | Points Table | Match Report )

21.48 (IST): Man-of-the-match Kumar Sangakkara: Dew made it a lot easier for me. My job was to stay on the wicket for as long as possible. I think we had a good opening partnership, that set us up. I've been lucky to score some runs. I've just managed to convert starts. I also think Chaturanga de Silva showed a lot of guts in his bowling and his batting.

 

21.47 (IST): Angelo Mathews: The champion came to the party when it mattered the most. It was a treat to watch Sangakkara bat today. In the bowling department, Mathews is our trump card. I think all three spinners bowled very well today. We still have two games to play so we are not thinking about the final already.

 

21.46 (IST): Virat Kohli: We didn't expect the dew to come down. Credit to the bowlers, they stuck to plans. They did well to take it to the final over. We could have been smarter in the way we approached our batting. We could have scored 25-30 runs. Bowling at three runs an over on that wicket, it was a great effort from Ravindra Jadeja. We need to play smarter cricket against Pakistan.

21.30 (IST): Its all over! Sri Lanka have beaten India by two wickets at Fatullah. A sublime effort from the seasoned campaigner Kumar Sangakkara has seen Sri Lanka go top of points table with eight points from two games. After a good bowling effort from Sri Lanka that restricted India to 264, the Sri Lankan openers Lahiru Thirimanne and Kusal Perera started well until the Indian spinners caused a minor collapse. Sangakkara, having played in such crunch situation on multiple occasions before, kept his nerve and slammed his 18th ODI ton and orchestrated his team's thrilling win. Indian bowlers dismissed him in the 49th over but that effort was too little too late. This win puts Sri Lanka on top of the points table with eight points from two fixtures. Pakistan are second with five points while India are close behind on third with four points. Thus, the importance of the clash between India and Pakistan has gone up by manifold as the teams that finish top two at the end of the group stage games will face-off in the final.

21.22 (IST): Outside and four! The ball has run down to the third man fence of Ajantha Mendis' bat. Sri Lanka need 1 run to win from the final over.

21.19 (IST): Oh dear! Sangakkara is gone, caught by Ashwin at short third man off Shami. Sri Lanka 258/8 in 48.3 overs, need seven to win from nine balls.

21.18 (IST): Sangakkara gets his 18th ODI ton! What a knock from the batting maestro. It comes in 83 balls.

21.12 (IST): Sangakkara gets two fours off Bhuvneshwar Kumar to take SL to 253/7 in 48 overs. They now need 12 runs to win from 12 balls.

21.09 (IST): Kumar Sangakkara is keeping Sri Lanka alive here. SL reach 243/7 in 47 overs, need 23 to win from 18 balls.

20.55 (IST): Sri Lanka reach 221/7 in 45 overs, need 44 runs in 30 balls to win.

20.48 (IST): Ravindra Jadeja strikes again! He traps Chaturanga de Silva in front of the stumps. SL 216/7 in 43.1 overs, need 49 runs to win from 41 balls.

20.41 (IST): Bhuvneshwar Kumar comes back into the attack. SL 208/6 in 42 overs, need 57 to win from 48 balls.

20.37 (IST): 200 up for Sri Lanka! Sangakkara hits one over the top to the extra cover fence off Rohit Sharma. SL 200/6 in 41 overs, need 65 to win from 54 balls.

20.30 (IST): Sri Lanka reach 191/6 in 40 overs, still need 74 runs to win from 60 balls.

20.28 (IST): Fifty for Kumar Sangakkara! His 85th in ODIs! What a player he is and what a time to showcase his class. He gets to his fifty in just 56 balls. SL 189/6 in 39.3 overs.

20.26 (IST): Another wicket falls! Shami the wicket-taker Senanyake is gone, caught by Rohit Sharma at mid-wicket. SL 183/6 in 39 overs.

20.20 (IST): 0,0,0,0,0,1 - Excellent over from Jadeja in the powerplay. Just 1 run from it. SL 173/5 in 38 overs, need 92 to win from 72 balls.

20.14 (IST): Sri Lanka lose their fifth wicket. Mohammed Shami traps Angelo Mathews in front of the stumps. SL 165/5 in 36.2 overs.

19.53 (IST): Two in two for Ravindra Jadeja! He cleans up Dinesh Chandimal with a lovely delivery. Chandimal was squared up and beaten as the ball went on to hit the off-stump. SL 148/4 in 31.2 overs.

19.50 (IST): Wicket! Soft dismissal for Mahela Jayawardene. He hits the ball straight to Rohit Sharma at cover off Ravindra Jadeja. SL 141/3 in 31.1 overs.

19.44 (IST): Oh dear! Dinesh Karthik makes a mess of a simple stumping chance that could have sent Kumar Sangakkara back to the pavilion. Sangakkara survives, SL 141/2 in 29.5 overs.

19.29 (IST): Ravichandran Ashwin bags 100th ODI wicket! He gets rid of K Perera for 64, caught behind by Dinesh Karthik. SL 134/2 in 26.5 overs.

19.19 (IST): Virat Kohli makes another change, Ambati Rayudu replaces Ravindra Jadeja. SL 117/1 in 24 overs.

19.13 (IST): Virat Kohli has brought back Mohammed Shami in a bid to get another breakthrough. SL 108/1 in 23 overs.

19.08 (IST): Fifty for Kusal Perera! He gets his third in ODIs. It has taken him 62 balls. He was dropped twice, first on 7 and then on 38. SL 100/1 in 22 overs.

19.04 (IST): Virat Kohli turns to left-arm spin of Ravindra Jadeja.

18.52 (IST): OUT! Ravichandran Ashwin provides India the much-needed breakthrough. He traps Thirimanne (38) in front of the stumps. The ball hurried onto the left-hander after pitching. Sri Lanka 80/1 in 17.2 overs

18.48 (IST): Perera gets another life as Ravindra Jadeja fails to latch onto the ball after making a good, diving effort in the deep. SL 77/0 in 16.1 overs.

18.35 (IST): Stuart Binny comes into the attack. A good start for him, just four singles. SL 65/0 in 13 overs.

 

18.23 (IST): Kusal Perera whacks one over deep mid wicket. What a massive hit! That shot brought back images of a young Sanath Jayasuriya playing the short arm jab in that area. SL 49/0 in 9.1 overs.

18.14 (IST): Virat Kohli throws the ball to Ravichandran Ashwin in the eighth over. Thirimanne launches him straight over long off for a six. SL 36/0 in 7.2 overs.

 

18.08 (IST): In-form Thirimanne sees a short ball from Shami early and gets under it to pull it behind square. He follows it up with a glorious straight drive. Sri Lanka 28/0 in 6 overs.

18.00 (IST): Oh dear! Schoolboy error from India! Ajinkya Rahane and Shikhar Dhawan collide in the outfield while going for a catch. Neither of them can latch onto the ball. Kusal Perera survives. Sri Lanka 17/0 in 3.4 overs.

17.56 (IST): Both Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Mohammed Shami get some early swing. The Sri Lanka opening pair have been a touch watchful. Sri Lanka 13/0 in 3 overs.

17.43 (IST): Lahiru Thirimanne and Kusal Perera begin Sri Lanka's chase. Bhuvneshwar Kumar starts the proceedings for India.

05.10 (IST): The ploy to play three spinners seems to have worked well for Sri Lanka as Ajantha Mendis (4/60), Sachitra Senanayake (3/41) and Chaturanga de Silva (1/51) pick up eight Indian wickets. Shikhar Dhawan did well for India with 94 but once he fell during the batting powerplay, it triggered the Indian collapse. Shami slammed two sixes towards the end to propel India to 264/9 at the end of the innings. History (from the last three games) would suggest that Sri Lanka should be able to chase this down. Only time will tell if the Fatullah trend remains the same. At the moment, on head-to-head in Asia Cup, both these sides have won nine matches each in 18 meetings. Can Sri Lanka go one up on India today? Looks likely at the moment but we will have to wait and watch.

17.04 (IST): India reach 264/9 in 50 overs.

16.59 (IST): Mohammed Shami, the last Indian batsman, slams two huge sixes over long off Ajantha Mendis. India 259/9 in 49 overs.

16.55 (IST): Nine down! Bhuvneshwar Kumar is dismissed by Mendis, who collects his fourth wicket of the game. Smart glove work from Kumar Sangakkara who collects the ball down the leg side and dislodges the bail on time. India 247/9 in 48.2 overs.

16.50 (IST): Ravichandran Ashwin is bowled! The death-over specialist Lasith Malinga stikes! Ashwin has to walk back for 18 after coming down the track and missing the ball which came faster than he anticipated. India 245/8 in 48 overs.

16.47 (IST): Ravindra Jadeja and Ravichandran Ashwin keep the scorecard ticking towards the end of the innings. India 243/7 in 47.4 overs.

 

16.35 (IST): Sachitra Senanayake ends with career-best bowling figures of 3/41.

 

16.29 (IST): Stuart Binny is gone! He is dismissed for a fourth ball duck! Senanayake gets his third as he traps Binny in front of the stumps. India 215/7 in 43.3 overs.

16.27 (IST): Stuart Binny walks out next. This will be the first time he will bat in international cricket. The stage is set for him to play his attacking game.

16.24 (IST): OUT! Ambati Rayudu is gone now! He attempts an inside out shot but can't clear Kusal Perera at extra cover. India 214/6 in 42.3 overs.

16.22 (IST): SIX! Ravindra Jadeja comes down the wicket and targets his favourite area over long on. He gets a six off Chaturagan de Silva's first ball.

16.16 (IST): Twin strikes for Mendis! He gets his second wicket in the over as Dinesh Karthik hits one to Chaturanga de Silva at mid on. India 200/5 in 40 overs.

16.13 (IST): Oh dear! Dhawan is gone! Ajanta Mendis gets another big wicket. Dhawan tried to play across the line without much foot work and is bowled. He walks back on 94. India 196/4 in 39.4 overs.

16.05 (IST): Sri Lanka are pulling things back here. The run rate has dipped and India have managed just 28 runs for one wicket in the batting powerplay. India 190/4 in 38 overs.

15.59 (IST): Ambati Rayudu walks out next. A good chance for him to prove his worth as a middle-order batsman.

15.57 (IST): OUT! Ajinkya Rahane is gone! He goes down the track to play one over the top but an outside edge carries to Lahiru Thirimanne at short third man. Good time for Sri Lanka to get a wicket here. India 175/3 in 35.1 overs.

15.52 (IST): Malinga bowls an over filled with full deliveries, starting with a pin-point yorker but Dhawan manages to hit one over the top on the leg side to get a boundary. Nine runs are taken from the over. India 175/2 in 35 overs.

15.43 (IST): Interesting move from Shikhar Dhawan and Ajinkya Rahane. They have opted for the batting powerplay after 33 overs. India 164/2 in 33 overs.

15.38 (IST): India reach 155/2 in 32 overs with Shikhar Dhawan (80) and Ajinkya Rahane (11) in the middle.

15.25 (IST): Shikhar Dhawan has now moved into the 70s. He has Ajinkya Rahane for company who looks like someone who is good at playing the supporting role. India 139/2 in 28.4 overs.

 

15.15 (IST): Virat Kohli is gone! What a ball from Ajantha Mendis! This wicket has come against the run of play but that was a peach-of-a-delivery from Mendis. It pitched on middle and off and beat Kohli's bat to hit the off-stump. Kohli has to walk back on 48. India 130/2 in 26.3 overs.

15.06 (IST): At the half-way stage, India have reached 115/1. Virat Kohli (45) has quickly moved into the 40s while Shikhar Dhawan (54) already has scored his half-century.

15.00 (IST): 100 up for India! It has come in 23 overs with Virat Kohli (33) and Shikhar Dhawan (51) in the middle.

14.59 (IST): Sixth ODI fifty for Shikhar Dhawan! He has done well to convert the tough start. He now needs to hang in further alongside his skipper and take India to a big total. India 98/1 in 22.4 overs.

14.53 (IST): WRAP: India have played the second set of 10 overs in a much better fashion. It is still advantage Sri Lanka as the scoring rate is just above four runs an over but Kohli's arrival has brightened things up for his side. Dhawan has looked much more confident in his captain's company and is inching towards his sixth fifty. Kohli too has quickly moved into the 20s. The Sri Lankan spinners are bowling in tandem and need to get a wicket or two to put real pressure on India.

14.50 (IST): India reach 85/1 in 20 overs.

14.38 (IST): Virat Kohli survives a stumping chance. Chaturanga de Silva was close to giving his side the most crucial breakthrough. Kohli leaned forward to drive the ball but was beaten by the turn. His back leg dragged outside the crease but came back just on time before Kumar Sangakkara dislodged the bails. India 70/1 in 16.2 overs.

14.33 (IST): Mathews strays one on the leg side and Kohli is quick to go down and sweep it to the fine leg fence. He has his third boundary already. India 69/1 in 16 overs.

14.31 (IST): Good news for Sri Lankan supporters as Angelo Mathews has returned to the field. He has handed the ball to Ajantha Mendis. India 62/1 in 15 overs.

 

14.26 (IST): Shikhar Dhawan is starting to look confident. He gets a four behind point. India 59/1 in 14 overs.

14.24 (IST): Virat Kohli goes inside out! What sublime touch he has been in. He gets a four through extra cover. India 54/1 in 13.3 overs.

 

14.22 (IST): Another medium pacer Thisara Perera has started well. Neither Kohli nor Dhawan have managed to play against him with full conviction. But they've kept the scoreboard ticking. India 48/1 in 13 overs.

14.11 (IST): WRAP: India reach in 37/1 10 overs. Excellent effort from Sri Lanka in the field. They haven't picked up a wicket but have given nothing away to the Indian openers so far. The Fatullah wicket has been slow and Angelo Mathews brought on spinner Sachitra Senanayake in the sixth over and bowled very well himself. His field setting too has been good so far. Shikhar Dhawan (20 off 28 balls) got two consecutive fours in the fifth over but has had to be careful against spin. Rohit Sharma has had yet another scratchy start and eventually perished towards the end of the 10th over. The only drawback for Sri Lanka is that skipper Angelo Mathews has walked back to the pavilion with what seems like a groin strain.

14.09 (IST): Rohit Sharma looked completely baffled by that decision as he had come down the wicket. But, the ball kept low enough for the umpire to call in favour of the Sri Lankans. Rohit scored 13 off 29 balls.

14.07 (IST): Rohit Sharma is gone! He has been ruled out leg before by umpire Nigell Long. Sachitra Senanayake provides Sri Lanka the first breakthrough. India 33/1 in 9.2 overs.

14.04 (IST): Oh dear! Angelo Mathews is limping off the field in the middle of his over. That is some bad news for Sri Lanka. He was doing so well. It looks like a groin strain. India 32/0 in 8.2 overs.

13.56 (IST): Good stuff from Mathews so far. His dibbly dobbly pace is making it tough for the batsmen to cut loose. Wicketkeeper Kumar Sangakkara is standing up to the stumps, negating Dhawan's attempt to go down the wicket and play through the covers like he always does. India 26/0 in 7 overs.

13.52 (IST): Angelo Mathews has introduced spin in the sixth over as Sachitra Senanayake comes into the attack.

13.51 (IST): After a slow start, Shikhar Dhawan gets a move on. Two back-to-back fours off Malinga. India 19/0 in 4.5 overs .

13.42 (IST): Angelo Mathews places a fielder on either side of the wicket in catching position. There is short cover and short mid-wicket for both batsmen who could be tempted to play flick on full and even length deliveries that haven't bounced high enough so far.

13.34 (IST): Lasith Malinga will hold the key for Sri Lanka, as mentioned by Dinesh Chandimal yesterday. However, stats say otherwise as he has a poor bowling average of 41.86, his worst against all opponents.

13.30 (IST): Malinga starts off with a ball at 139 kmph but the thing to notice is that the ball kept very low. Rohit defended it below the knee roll. This wicket calls for batsmen to be careful as it has seen variable bounce throughout the three games so far.

13.28 (IST): Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan are in the middle. Lasith Malinga has the ball in his hand. He will start the proceedings. Rohit to face first up.

13.21 (IST): The teams are out and line up for their respective national anthems.

13.16 (IST): Sri Lanka: Kusal Perera, Lahiru Thirimanne, Kumar Sangakkara, Mahela Jayawardene, Dinesh Chandimal, Angelo Mathews, Chaturanga de Silva, Thisara Perera, Sachitra Senanayake, Lasith Malinga, Ajantha Mendis

13.13 (IST): India: S Dhawan, Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Ajinkya Rahane, Ambati Rayudu, Dinesh Karthik, Stuart Binny, Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mohammed Shami

13.09 (IST): The Fatullah wicket has shown a similar pattern in all the three previous games so far. Teams that have batted first have found it tough to score quickly early on and the conditions have eased out for teams batting second. Two out of three fixtures in the tournament has seen the team batting second winning the game. Can Virat Kohli & Co. change that trend today? We will have to wait and watch.

13.03 (IST): Virat Kohli said he would have liked to chase as well but reckons he has a strong batting line-up and can post a good total. India make one change, bringing in Stuart Binny for Varun Aaron. Sri Lanka play an extra spinner in Ajantha Mendis in place of pacer Suranga Lakmal.

13.00 (IST): Sri Lanka win toss, elect to field first against India at Fatullah.

12.54 (IST): Both India and Sri Lanka won their respective first games in the tournament. While Sri Lankan captain Angelo Mathews scored a brisk 55 off 50 deliveries, Virat Kohli went on to slam his 19th ODI ton and break a record.

12.36 (IST): FACTOID: On this day in 2012 at Hobart, Virat Kohli dazzled everyone with his batting skills, slammed 133 off 86 balls. This enabled India chase down Sri lanka's total of 320 in 36.4 overs to earn a bonus point and reach the final of the tri-series (also involving Australia).

 

TRIVIA: India and Sri Lanka have played the most head-to-head games in ODI cricket - 144 matches. Next are Pakistan vs Sri Lanka ties - 138 games.

FACTOID: In 18 games played between India and Sri Lanka in Asia Cups, both teams have won 9 times each.

 

FACTOID: Last 5 ODIs: India have only 1 win (the 6-wicket win over Bangladesh). Sri Lanka, on the other hand, have won all their previous 5 games.

 

Match Preview

Their battered pride regained after snapping an eight-ODI winless streak, five-time champions India will look to build a winning momentum when they take on Sri Lanka in what could be their first real test in the Asia Cup on Friday.

India notched up a six-wicket win against hosts Bangladesh in their opening match of the five-nation regional tournament on Wednesday but their real test begins Friday against the Lankans who had beaten defending champions Pakistan by 12 runs.

Back on the familiar subcontinental conditions after humiliating series defeats in South Africa and New Zealand, India chased down 280 at the Khan Shaheb Osman Ali Stadium to register their first win in nine ODIs.

Stand-in skipper Virat Kohli smashed a 122-ball 136 in a 213-run partnership with Ajinkya Rahane who returned to ODI form with a 73 to hand India a perfect start to their Asia Cup campaign. (Will Virat Kohli scale Mount Sachin Tendulkar?)

Kohli's tremendous form in Bangladesh which now reads 868 runs from 10 matches with an astounding average of 124, including his career-best 183 in last Asia Cup, will put India as a favourite to win the tournament despite recent overseas reverses.

That the talented middle order batsman Rahane shook off a string of failures in New Zealand where he totalled 51 from five ODIs would mean India's middle order would be settled before the two key clashes -- against Sri Lanka and Pakistan.

As India's progression into the final will hinge on the results of the two key clashes, Kohli's men do not have the luxury to relax.

Kohli had got a reprieve on 35 as Bangladesh failed to grab their share of chances. The skipper's cheap dismissal would have certainly exposed the new-look Indian middle order in their chase of 280 and could have tilted the match the other way.

Struggling for quite some time, openers Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan had some testing times against an ordinary Bangladesh attack.

Against a Sri Lankan team that boasts of the fiery Lasith Malinga, who is fresh from his match-winning five-for against Pakistan, the Indian opening duo would be desperate to get back among runs to give their side a solid start. (Read full preview)

 

The Teams (From):

India: Virat Kohli (c), Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan, Ajinkya Rahane, Ambati Rayudu, Dinesh Karthik (wk), Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, Bhuvaneshwar Kumar, Mohammad Shami, Varun Aaron, Cheteshwar Pujara, Stuart Binny, Amit Mishra and Ishwar Pandey.

Sri Lanka: Angelo Mathews (c), Kusal Perera, Lahiru Thirimanne, Kumar Sangakkara (wk), Mahela Jayawardene, Thisara Perera, Chaturanga de Silva, Dinesh Chandimal, Sachithra Senanayake, Lasith Malinga, Suranga Lakmal, Ajantha Mendis, Ashan Priyanjan and Dhammika Prasad.

Match starts: 1.30pm IST.

Bring on Virat Kohli, we have Lasith Malinga: Dinesh Chandimal

Sri Lanka vice-captain Dinesh Chandimal on Thursday said that his team was not too much worried about Virat Kohli's fine form as his side's bowling attack can unsettle the Indian batting line-up in their crucial Asia Cup league match on Friday.

The Lankans began their Asia Cup campaign with a 12-run victory over defending champions Pakistan with slinging paceman Lasith Malinga taking a five-for, and Chandimal said his side's bowling can take on the Indian batting.

"India are a very good side, especially in last two three years they have been playing good cricket. Virat Kohli is batting exceptionally well. They have some really good players but we got bowlers like Malinga. So we will see tomorrow," Chandimal said on the sidelines of the team's practice at the Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium here.

"We are also doing well at the moment. Everyone in both batting and bowling departments are in good form. We are looking forward to a good job."

Kohli smashed a match-winning 136 to set up India's 280-run chase against Bangladesh last night and snap their eight-ODI winless streak. (Read: Virat Kohli credits dad after breaking India's winless streak)

"We all know, he is a really good batsman. But as I said we have something in our mind and we will see it tomorrow. We are keeping our fingers crossed," said Chandimal.

"They played really special. They are good at chasing but we have a good bowling attack. We have something in our sleeves for them tomorrow so we are looking forward to do that."

Malinga's match winning 5/52 against Pakistan had given them a winning start and Chandimal said they would look to take early wickets to expose the inexperience Indian middle order without Mahendra Singh Dhoni. (Read more)