After opting to bat first, India were bamboozled by the Sri Lanka spinners — Dunith Wellalage (5/40) and Charith Asalanka (4/18), and managed to post a below-par 213 all out in 49.1 overs. But India bowlers came up with a collective effort to bowl out Sri Lanka for 172 in 41.3 overs, clinching a 41-run victory for their second win in the Super Fours.
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On the three days of continuous action, India batter KL Rahul agreed that it tested the players physically.
“It was amazing, we were trusted throughout. We were not on the field for 100 overs but how many ever overs we were there it tested us physically, great to see we turned up today and gave it our best. We turned up and that is a big tick mark for us as a team,” Rahul said in the post-match presentation.
Rahul also played a crucial knock of 39 and added a valuable 63 runs for the fourth wicket with Ishan Kishan after Wellalage left India reeling at 91/3.
“Always happy when I contribute to the team, when you are batting in the middle order it is important to build partnerships. I have been out for 4-5 months, I will take anything that comes, it was a crucial partnership with Kishan,” Rahul said about his contribution.
The wicket-keeper batter also believed that India were short by 20-30 runs in their innings.
“Third day in a row playing at the same venue, bit of spin but we managed it really well, we were 20-30 runs short, few more partnerships could have got us to 230-240,” Rahul added.
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On his keeping role, Rahul said: “When you are behind the stumps, you have a good idea as to what the batter is doing and I just passed on the message, luckily it worked for Kuldeep (referring to his tip to Kuldeep before Samarawickrama’s dismissal).”
India qualified for the final with four points from two Super Four games, and will face the winners of the Sri Lanka vs Pakistan match on Thursday in the title clash.
