Sri Lanka defeated India on Tuesday in the Asia Cup 2022 by six wickets. Sri Lanka’s place in the final is now assured thanks to this victory. On the other hand, India is virtually out of the competition. 

It was a classic see-saw battle with Sri Lanka behind till the last overs. In the final four overs, they required 42 runs. Once Hardik Pandya and Arshdeep Singh finished their two overs, the equation came down to 21 runs required from 12 balls. Bhuvneshwar Kumar then gave up 14 runs in the penultimate over, swinging the game in Sri Lanka’s favour. Despite Singh bowling a brilliant last over, the probability of Super Over seemed very likely. However, Sri Lanka managed to hold their nerves to win the match.

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Indian fans liked the effort by the youngster, who also bowled a brilliant last over in the defeat against Pakistan. Here’s how they appreciated his effort on social media:

Under Rohit Sharma‘s captaincy, this is the first time India have lost back-to-back T20Is in a row. India and Sri Lanka now face Afghanistan and Pakistan respectively in their last game of their Super 4 stage.

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Earlier in the game, Sri Lanka won the toss and decided to bowl first. Right away, Rohit shined with the bat, smashing 72 runs off of 41. He single-handedly altered the scenario after India lost the early wickets of KL Rahul (6), and Virat Kohli (7) to put SL to the backfoot. The score was 110/3 when he was dismissed with just under eight overs remaining. The Men in Blue continued to lose wickets at regular intervals, thus the final acceleration did not occur. 

One hundred and seventy four runs was a respectable target that India set for Sri Lanka, but Kusal Mendis and Pathum Nissanka quickly took control. The pair scored 97 runs for the first wicket in 11.1 overs, with both batters scoring fifty. With his 3/34 spell, Yuzvendra Chahal turned the game back in India’s favour.

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However, India’s pacers failed the team once more by allowing runs in the final overs. Bhanuka Rajapaksa and Dasun Shanaka entered with SL at 110 for 4, well short of the mark. Sri Lanka kept scoring boundaries at regular intervals to bring the team back in the game. After Bhuvneshwar Kumar conceded 14 off the penultimate over, Arshdeep just had to defend 7 off the final over. He gave it his all and almost always managed to get the yorker. But, in the end, Sri Lanka was the victorious team.