India secured their third straight victory over Sri Lanka at the Shere Bangla National Stadium in Mirpur on Tuesday and became the first finalists of the 2016 Asia Cup Twenty20 series. Things mostly went India's way from start to finish, with MS Dhoni's decision to field being vindicated by his bowlers who kept Sri Lanka to 138 and the required runs being knocked off in 19.2 overs for the loss of five wickets.
India's chase was not without blemish, with their openers dismissed by Nuwan Kulasekara inside four overs, but a 53-run alliance between Virat Kohli and Suresh Raina put them back on track. Kohli's fourth T20 50 of the year put the finishing touches on victory and there was a welcome cameo from Yuvraj Singh, who produced his most fluent innings since returning in January.
Sri Lanka, who lost to hosts Bangladesh in their previous match, now face Pakistan on Friday needing to win handsomely to have a hope of joining India in Sunday's summit clash.
Critical to India's success was taking wickets at regular junctions. Six Sri Lankans made it to double-digits but none topped 30, which is reflective both of the hold India had on them as well as how poorly they applied themselves on a two-paced surface.
Since making an international return to the T20 side on January 31, Ashish Nehra had struck in his first spell on five of eight occasions. Today he made it six, removing Dinesh Chandimal for four when the batsman charged, heaved and nicked to MS Dhoni. As if on cue, Jasprit Bumrah struck moments later when Shehan Jayasuriya feathered a regulation take to Dhoni. Getting starts has been one of Sri Lanka's main worries this year and a scoreline of 15/2 in four overs was another failure.
Nehra continued to ask questions of Tillakaratne Dilshan, twice belting out confident shouts for lbw as the ball darted about on a skidding pitch. Nehra's first spell of 3-0-12-1 contained 10 dot balls and with Bumrah also frugal in his first three, Sri Lanka took 31 off the Powerplay overs. First ball after the fielding restrictions were lifted, Dilshan mistimed a hook off Hardik Pandya and found fine leg. This left Angelo Mathews to once again try and turn a sorry situation into an innings of substance, but his attacking approach saw him bowled by Pandya for 18 from 19 balls.
Four wickets down, Sri Lanka then found themselves having to contend with R Ashwin with their run rate under five-and-a-half per over. Milinda Siriwardana brought the much needed impetus, hitting Ravindra Jadeja for six and four off successive deliveries before he fell trying to hit Ashwin over the ropes. Here on, only a couple meaty swipes from Thisara Perera and Kulasekara added as minor irritants to India, who struck five times in the last four overs. Chamara Kapugedera's 30 from 32 deliveries was the highest individual score of the innings.
