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Five turning points in the India-Sri Lanka Asia Cup match
Kumar Sangakkara displayed his class with a breathtaking 84-ball 103 as Sri Lanka recovered from a middle-order batting collapse to score a thrilling two-wicket over India in the Asia Cup, at the Khan Shaheb Osman Ali Stadium, in Fatullah, Bangladesh, on Friday night.
Chasing 265, the islanders rode on the 36-year-old batsman's 84-ball 103 to clinch victory with four balls to spare.
Rediff.com takes a look at five turning points in the match.
Indian openers' slow start
India got off to an extremely slow start.
Openers Shikhar Dhawan and Rohit Sharma were overcautious on a slow pitch that saw the ball keeping low. It wouldn’t be wrong to say that it was that hesitancy early on that cost Rohit Sharma his wicket. He misjudged a straighter one from Sachithra Senanayake and was adjudged leg before wicket.
Mendis, Senanayake's stifling of Indian middle order
The spin duo of Ajantha Mendis and Senanayake were tight and frustrated the Indian middle order. Just when Dhawan and Virat Kohli started providing India a bit of momentum, Mendis produced a beauty to dismiss the Indian skipper.
Senanayeke, at the other end, tied one end up without delivering anything loose. It forced the Indian batsmen to playing some atrocious shots in their quest for runs.
Ambati Rayudu and Dinesh Karthik were guilty of playing irresponsible shots against the run of play and throwing away their wickets.
Sri Lankan openers' confident start
Replying to India’s modest total of 264 for 9, the Sri Lankan openers began confidently.
Lahiru Thirimanne and Kusal Perera started off well and put on 80 runs in 17 overs before Perera, who was out cheaply in the opening game of the Asia Cup against Pakistan, was dismissed for 64.
The aggressor of the two openers, he did his bit, scoring four fours and two sixes.
India's mediocre fielding
India were pretty mediocre in the field, their fielders colliding with each other, dropping catches and wicketkeeper Dinesh Karthik missing an easy stumping.
In the opening 15 overs as many as three chances were spilled due to lack of proper communication between the fielders.
Karthik missed an important stumping -- that of the in-form Kumar Sangakkara, when he was batting on 30. The batsman went on to score a decisive hundred.
Ravindra Jadeja, the most impressive of the Indian bowlers, managed to get the ball past Sanga’s pads as the left-hander pushed off for a non-existent single. But Karthik missed the stumping on the first attempt, and by the time he whipped the bails off, the Sri Lankan was safely back in his crease.
Jadeja, though, played a vital hand later in the game. He brought India back with twin strikes. He first had Mahela Jayawardene caught at cover and then cleaned up Dinesh Chandimal’s off-stump. He finished off with the wicket of Chaturanga de Silva.
Sangakkara's solidity
Sangakkara’s matured innings was crucial as the islanders were in a precarious situation at one stage.
Sri Lanka, after getting a good start, seemed to have lost their way, but Sangakkara made full use of the life he got to see the team home with a brilliant unbeaten 103 off only 84 balls.