(Image source from: x.com/BCCI)
In the regular match, Pathum Nissanka scored 107 runs from 58 balls and Kusal Perera added 58 from 32. Their scores countered a quick 61 from Abhishek Sharma and a not-out 49 off 34 from Tilak Varma. Both India and Sri Lanka ended up with 202 runs for 5 wickets. However, in the Super Over, Sri Lanka clearly struggled in every area. They chose not to send Nissanka to bat, opting for Kusal Perera (who hit the first ball straight to deep backward point), Dasun Shanaka (who found it hard to handle Arshdeep Singh's wide yorkers), and Kamindu Mendis (who has never been a strong T20I player). Between the three of them, they only scored two runs. Suryakumar Yadav easily hit the first ball of their Super Over, bowled by Wanindu Hasaranga, for three runs. This allowed India to advance to the Asia Cup final without losing, facing their toughest challenge only in this match, where they rested Jasprit Bumrah and Shivam Dube.
Though their dominance seemed to fade a bit, India's ability to win even when Sri Lanka's top batsmen were performing well will give them confidence before the final against Pakistan. India's innings went well. Abhishek had a fantastic start, creating a partnership of 59 runs with Suryakumar, who only made 12 runs off 13 balls in that partnership. Later, Tilak and Sanju Samson formed a partnership of 66 runs. However, Nissanka's 127-run partnership off 70 balls was the largest of the tournament, bringing Sri Lanka close to winning. Yet, the other batsmen couldn't finish the job. In this Super Over, Sri Lanka had to bat first, but surprisingly, their best performer, Nissanka, wasn't sent in right away. It seemed obvious he would come in if a wicket fell.
Instead, Perera and Shanaka were sent to bat, with Arshdeep bowling this over since Bumrah was unavailable. Perera hit the first ball, a wide yorker, to deep point where substitute fielder Rinku Singh made a good catch. Out next was Kamindu Mendis, who lacks a history of scoring quickly against strong teams, even though Nissanka was just waiting on the bench. Unsurprisingly, Kamindu barely managed to get an edge on the next ball from Arshdeep, resulting in just a single run. Shanaka also struggled to deal with Arshdeep's wide yorkers and tried to score a bye off the fourth ball. Arshdeep appealed for a caught behind out while wicketkeeper Sanju Samson managed to run out Dasun Shanaka at the striker's end. However, since Arshdeep had appealed for the catch, the umpire ruled Shanaka out. (The umpire made the decision for out only after Shanaka was already run out, but according to the rules, this out decision cancels the run out.) Shanaka, realizing this trick in the rules, immediately asked the umpire if it was considered a dead ball after reviewing the caught behind call.
It seems that Shanaka is right according to the rules. Since he was mistakenly given out caught behind, he is cleared of being run out, even if the stumps fell before the umpire signaled. Shanaka has another chance to bat and could help Sri Lanka achieve a good score in the Super Over. On the very next ball, Shanaka hit a top edge to deep third, which ended Sri Lanka's Super Over. India scored three runs on their first ball and claimed victory. Even though opening partner Shubman Gill was out on the ninth ball of the innings, the tournament's top scorer managed to play well during the powerplay. His best over in the powerplay was against Dushmantha Chamera. Abhishek stepped down the pitch and struck the ball over long off on the third ball, then hit the fifth ball over short fine leg's head, and sliced the next ball over short third. Abhishek only needed 22 balls to reach fifty. At the end of the powerplay, India was at 71 for 1. Eventually, Abhishek misjudged a half-track delivery from Charith Asalanka and hit it to deep midwicket in the ninth over. He scored 61 runs from 31 balls.
Nissanka had done well in the group stage but had not performed much in the first two Super Four matches. In this game, he came alive. He drove Hardik Pandya through point for a boundary on his first ball, sent the other bowlers flying over deep midwicket, and pulled others over backward square leg. He reached fifty runs in 25 balls and kept attacking during the middle overs, as Perera also scored quickly. Nissanka became Sri Lanka's fourth male player to score a century in T20I by hitting Arshdeep into the sightscreen at the end of the 17th over. He achieved this in 52 balls. His final score of 108 off 58 balls is the highest individual T20I score for Sri Lanka.
