India registered a hard-fought 41-run victory over Sri Lanka in the ongoing Asia Cup 2023 game and thereby booked a place in the finals of this competition. The Men in Blue broke the 13-match winning streak of Sri Lanka in this format and sent out a strong statement ahead of the ICC ODI World Cup 2023.
The Rohit Sharma-led Indian cricket team put up 213 runs on the board in the 1st innings. Skipper Rohit Sharma was the top-scorer with 53 runs on the board in 48 deliveries. His knock was packed with 7 fours and 2 sixes.
None of the other Indian batters managed to amass big knocks and the Sri Lankan bowlers ruled the roost in this game. But the Indian bowlers fought back valiantly in the 2nd innings and made sure that they grab the honours of this game.
In this article, we take a look at the top 3 talking points of the IND vs SL Asia Cup 2023 game that took place in Colombo:
1. Dunith Wellalage’s all-round prowess
20-year-old Sri Lankan all-rounder Dunith Wellalage had a stupendous display with both the bat and the ball. He firstly bagged 5 wickets in the 1st innings and coupled it with a hard-fought knock of 42* runs in the 2nd innings.
Wellalage lacked support from the other Sri Lankan batters and the island nation eventually succumbed to a defeat in this game. But the youngster’s fortitude and his exceptional performances were a big revelation for Sri Lanka.
He will be instrumental in Sri Lanka’s team for the upcoming ICC ODI World Cup 2023 in India and the remainder of the Asia Cup 2023.
2. Sri Lanka’s spinners spun a web
For the first time in the history of ODI cricket, India lost all wickets to spinners. This was a poor record created by India in this Asia Cup 2023 game as the Indians were bamboozled by the spinners of Sri Lanka.
While left-arm orthodox spinner Dunith Wellalage bagged 5 wickets, Maheesh Theekshana took 1 wicket and Charith Asalanka had 4 scalps in this game.
3. Kuldeep Yadav once again shone with the ball
Left-arm chinaman bowler of India Kuldeep Yadav once again hogged the limelight with his top-notch bowling display. Yadav took 4 wickets and spun the game in favour of India. His scalps included Sadeera Samarawickrama, Charith Asalanka, Kasun Rajitha and Matheesha Pathirana.
Notably, Yadav had taken 5 wickets in the previous game of India in the ongoing Asia Cup 2023 versus Pakistan.
Also read: CPL 2023 Live Streaming: How & Where To Watch, Squads, All You Need To Know
