India vs Sri Lanka, 9th Match, Super Four at Dubai, Asia Cup, Sep 06 2022 - Match Result

Another game that went down to the wire and India once again found themselves on the wrong side of it. They are mathematically not out of the Asia Cup yet, but a lot of results will have to go their way, for them to make it to the final. Sri Lanka all but through. Anyway, that's all from us tonight. Hope you enjoyed our coverage as much as we enjoyed bringing it to you. The tournament rumbles on with Pakistan taking on Afghanistan tomorrow, and we will be right here with every update. Till then, this is me Ashish Pant signing off on behalf of Sidharth Monga and Chandan Duorah. Goodnight!

Here's a stat nugget before we wrap up. Only four of Rohit Sharma's 32 fifty-plus scores in T20Is ended in losing cause. His last fifty in a defeat was vs West Indies in 2016.

Dasun Shanaka is the Player of the Match : 'The confidence in the dressing room is great. The bowlers in patches, they bowled well . Credit to Dilshan, and Theekshana, they bowled really well. The batters came out against them, but we did well. We had good discussions after the first game, and we know what we can do. Pathum and Kusal set the tone brilliantly, and Rajapaksa and I set up the chase. [On him not bowling much] It's due to the team combination, so I haven't been bowling my quota. I need to take the best decision the team needs.'

Rohit Sharma, the Indian captain up first: We ended up on the wrong side, just as simple as that. The kind of runs we got, we could have capitalised a bit more. We were 10-15 runs short. The guys out in the middle need to learn what they need to do and what kind of shot-making can happen, This team was on a good run for a long time, such losses will help us better to learn as a team. It was a good effort with the ball, considering the start they got. The spinners came out and bowled quite aggressively. In the end, SL held their nerves quite well. [Three seamers?] We thought with the bigger boundary, you can use the spin well. Their right-handers batted for longer periods of time. I was thinking of bringing Hooda but it did not work out the way we thought. Avesh has not pulled up that well. He didn't turn up well. He was quite sick. Ideally, when we start touring, we would like four seamers., But you also try with three. Come the WC I want to be ready with all answers. Since Hardik came back we always played with three seamers with Hardik being the fourth, but we have to look at all options. We pretty much know now what to deal with regarding our combination. [Long-term worries?] No worries. It is just the two games we have lost back to back. Since the last WC, we haven't lost much. We wanted to put ourselves under pressure during this Asia Cup. We are still looking for some answers but when we play a game like this, you get a lot of answers. You have to give a lot of credit to Arshdeep for coming out the way he did at the end.

Presentation time:

Here's Kusal Mendis, who set the tone of the chase with a 37-ball 57: Very happy. Pathum and I had a good start and then Rajapaksa and Shanaka had an amazing, probably this tournament's best partnership. The right-left hand combination worked for us. I worked hard in SL, and the coaches told me to play the normal game, take singles, hit the fours or six. That's helped us get success. We tried to find the gap, and that's the option we went for. We played our normal game. We have power hitters in the middle. My role is to play my normal game in the first six overs.

9.48pm Celebrations in the SL camp. The players run out to the middle to embrace Bhanuka Rajapaksa and Dasun Shanaka. Sri Lanka all but through to the final. A third straight 170-plus chase for them and that is a run chase for the ages set up by the openers. India put up a par score, but Kusal Mendis and Pathum Nissanka hit their straps from the get-go. The duo added 97 runs for the opening wicket in 11.1 overs with both batters getting fifties. India then made a comeback largely through Chahal, who picked up 3 for 34 in his four overs. He changed the game around with his spell while Ashwin too did his bit. However, the pacers were disappointing once again. Rajapaksa and Shanaka came in with SL at 110 for 4 with the target still a fair bit away. However, they made sure to find boundaries at regular intervals to take their side close. Bhuvneshwar Kumar conceded 14 off the penultimate over with Arshdeep tasked to defend just seven off the final. He tried his best, nailing the yorker almost every ball. But it was SL who held their nerves better. Did the better team win today? - 100%.

Dasun Shanaka's last three T20I innings vs India - 154 runs, 75 balls, 0 dismissals, 15 fours, 8 sixes

JOYDEEPSINGHGIL: "Is India out of this tournament with this loss or it's still chance left for them for qualify." If Pakistan win tomorrow, India are out.

Akshat Rastogi: "India came in the tournament to find answers to many questions, I think they have new set of questions to answer now."

Singh : "Could Pant have outrun the batter or at least got closer to the stumps before taking the aim." He could have, yes. But the best can flounder under pressure.

Saurabh Mantri : "Good wake up call for India before World cup. They need to find the answers for best team combination. They have won alot of bilateral series but it doesn't matter. We always remember who won the world cup."

2 off 2. Super Over anyone? Can Shanaka gets a boundary?

Lots of advice coming for Arshdeep. Hardik, Rohit doing the talking

Rohit has a word with Arshdeep, Over the wicket

Patrick: "This SL team reminds me of the late 90s SA team, not many superstars, but a bunch of champions when put together."

So Bhuvi goes for 14. Arshdeep has seven runs to defend. Over the wicket to Rajapaksa.

Bhuvi tasked with bowling the 19th over again. He went for 19 runs in the last match

Hardik to bowl now.