Sri Lanka win with a ball to spare
Sri Lanka win with a ball to spare
It's an excellent final over from Arshdeep to try and defend just 7. He did brilliantly but Bhuvneshwar wasn't up to the mark with his wide yorkers in the 19th and that left the youngster with too much to do. He tried with a slew of yorkers but Sri Lanka had enough experience to see them over the line.
What a turnaround for them after the thrashing in the first game against Afghanistan. Now they've won two from two in the Super Four and have one foot in the final of the Asia Cup. An excellent partnership from Shanaka and Rajapaksa after Sri Lanka lost 4 for 13.
India are on the brink of elimination. They will be officially eliminated if Pakistan beat Afghanistan tomorrow. They've been on a good run in T20 cricket but their balance has been dented severely post that Jadeja injury. They've sorely missed Bumrah and Harshal Patel there and they'll rue the inexperience in their seam-bowling department. They still have a game to go and a couple of series coming up against Australia and South Africa so there is time for fine-tuning still. But back to the drawing board for Rohit Sharma and Rahul Dravid! Five bowlers are not working. India will need a sixth bowling option, an extra seamer. But with Jadeja not playing, it's likely to leave them weak in the batting if they have Bhuvneshwar as a No.7 batter considering their high-risk approach to batting.
Prelude - India vs Sri Lanka
If this is indeed a tune-up series for India ahead of the World Cup, then today's match comes fairly close to the kind of qualifying pressures that the multi-team event in Australia is likely to create. Following their defeat to Pakistan two nights ago, the Asia Cup holders are precariously placed. A defeat today could end their campaign prematurely.
India need a win and despite their overwhelmingly strong record against Sri Lanka in the format, they can be expected to face quite a challenge here against the slow bowers in the opposition rank. They also have a few bowling and balance issues to sort out now that Jadeja has been ruled out of the tournament and looks likely to miss the World Cup too.
Sri Lanka come to this game on the back of a fine chase against Afghanistan. Can they deal a major blow to the defending champions.
This is Kaushik Rangarajan (@kaushik_cb) welcoming you to the live blog of this absorbing fixture. Why don't you guys Tweet to me about the changes you want India to make for this big clash?