Sri Lanka men's cricket team to play for bronze
ThePapareNews article
Sri Lanka's gold medal dream slipped away as they suffered a 124-run defeat against India in the men's cricket event at the 20th Asian Games being held in Aichi-Nagoya, Japan.
Following the defeat they will now play for the bronze medal, while the victorious Indian side qualified for the gold medal match.
In this match, played today (1st) at the Korogi Athletic Park ground in Nisshin, 26-year-old top-order left-handed batter and wicketkeeper Sohan de Livera, 21-year-old opening left-handed batter Sineth Jayawardena and 23-year-old all-rounder Wanuja Sahan earned their international T20 caps for Sri Lanka.
Winning the toss, the Sri Lankan captain invited India to bat first, and the Indian batters posted 169 for 7, while in reply Sri Lanka managed only 45 runs.
Sri Lanka team
Sahan Arachchige (captain), Sineth Jayawardena, Lasith Croospulle, Sohan de Livera (wicketkeeper), Nuwanidu Fernando, Ashen Bandara, Chamika Karunaratne, Wanuja Sahan, Tharindu Ratnayake, Vijayakanth Viyaskanth and Binura Fernando.
India team
Shreyas Iyer (captain), Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, Abhishek Sharma, Sanju Samson (wicketkeeper), Ishan Kishan, Axar Patel, Tilak Varma, Shivam Dube, Washington Sundar, Ravi Bishnoi and Jasprit Bumrah
Batting first, the Indian batters made a quick start against Sri Lanka. They ended the first six powerplay overs on 58 runs, and brought up their 100 in 75 balls and 150 in 110 balls.
The top scorer of that innings was Ishan Kishan. He was unbeaten on 80 off 46 balls with 5 sixes and 4 fours at the close of the innings. It was the 13th fifty of his T20 international career.
In addition to him, opening batter Vaibhav Sooryavanshi made 38 off 21 balls with 6 fours and 2 sixes. Captain Shreyas Iyer also scored 13 off 13 balls with one four.
Every other batter was restricted to a single-figure score, while with the ball captain Sahan Arachchige and Tharindu Ratnayake took two wickets each, and Wanuja Sahan, Nuwanidu Fernando and Lasith Croospulle picked up a wicket apiece.
The Indian bowlers gave the Sri Lankan batters no chance of a solid start in the run chase. Having taken the first three wickets within 7 balls, the Indian bowlers finished their six powerplay overs with 6 wickets in hand. By then Sri Lanka had only 33 runs on the board.
By that stage those dismissed were Sineth Jayawardena (0), Sohan de Livera (0), Lasith Croospulle (0), Sahan Arachchige (9), Ashen Bandara (0) and Nuwanidu Fernando (15).
The best partnership of the Sri Lankan innings was the 16-run fourth-wicket stand off 12 balls between Nuwanidu Fernando and Sahan Arachchige. That partnership was broken by the dismissal of Sahan Arachchige.
When he fell he had made 9 runs off 8 balls with 2 fours. Nuwanidu Fernando, dismissed as the sixth wicket, had made 15 runs off 11 balls with 2 sixes.
The other Sri Lankan batters, Wanuja Sahan (1), Tharindu Ratnayake (5), Chamika Karunaratne (4) and Binura Fernando (0), also played poor knocks, while Vijayakanth Viyaskanth remained not out without scoring at the end of the innings. Among them, the last three wickets fell in three successive balls, including a run out.
With 61 balls still remaining in the Sri Lankan innings, the innings ended with Abhishek Sharma, Jasprit Bumrah and Axar Patel taking two wickets each, while Washington Sundar also claimed a wicket.
Match summary scorecard
India – 169 for 7 (20.0) Vaibhav Sooryavanshi 38, Ishan Kishan 80 not out, Tharindu Ratnayake 2/32, Sahan Arachchige 2/28
Sri Lanka – all out 45 (9.5) Nuwanidu Fernando 15, Sahan Arachchige 9, Jasprit Bumrah 2/07, Axar Patel 2/08, Abhishek Sharma 2/02
India won by 124 runs.
In addition to this match, the other semi-final was also played today, where Pakistan beat Bangladesh to qualify for the final. Accordingly, Pakistan and India will contest the gold medal, while Sri Lanka and Bangladesh will play for the bronze medal. That match is scheduled to be held on the 3rd of this month at the same Korogi Athletic Park ground in Nisshin.
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Based on ThePapare reporting