Live blog - India meet Sri Lanka in dead rubber

One subplot within the dead rubber is that Pathum Nissanka would love to have an IPL contract. How do I know this? He told me this himself, as part of the interview for this story, which outlines the improvements in his white-ball game. (Also, which Lankan cricketer doesn't want an IPL contract?)

After four overs, he's on 30 off 14 balls. If he gets another 20 runs off the next 15 balls, say, his chances of being picked up in next year's auction may rise significantly.

Such is the skewed nature of cricketing economics at the moment, that matches against India are also auditions for an entirely different economic life.

Having made 50, and 68 in the group stage, Pathum Nissanka has fallen off a little in the Super Four, against better opposition. As Kusal Mendis goes first ball, the onus is now on Nissanka to produce something special to get Sri Lanka to a decent position in the powerplay.

If they are to seriously threaten this score, you suspect he needs to play a big innings.

Abhishek Sharma hit 61 off 31, Tilak Varma struck 49 not out off 34, and India cruised to the highest score of the tournament, posting 202 for 5 without ever looking like they were breaking a serious sweat.

Sri Lanka too, made no serious errors. In fact they caught well - Maheesh Theekshana and Dushmantha Chameera taking outstanding catches off their own bowling - while the groundfielding was in good shape. None of their bowlers leaked more than 15 runs in an over, and the frontline bowlers all completed their quota.

And yet, India kept finding the boundary, first through Abhishek Sharma, before Varma and Sanju Samson set themselves up in the middle overs to hit 66 runs off 42 balls together. Wickets fell too, but such are India’s riches, and so in control were they of this innings, that dismissals did not lead to major hits to the scoring rate.

Sri Lanka’s bowlers did pose threats. In fact, five bowlers took wickets. But none took more than one, and not a single bowler of the six used went at less than six an over. Whatever Sri Lanka threw at India, the India batters negotiated with measured aggression.

Axar finishes the innings with a six, but the strange thing is, India have got to this total without ever really going big.

The story of this innings can be surmised through the Manhattan graph, found here (click/tap the Manhattan tab). Essentially, India have scored consistently quickly through all phases, right through the innings. Three-quarters of their overs have yielded eight runs or more. At the same time, they've not had a truly huge over by T20 standards, their most productive one being the fifth over, in which they hit 15.

While all Sri Lanka bowlers have traveled in this game, no one has truly lost the plot.

All this points to India just having batted outstandingly well, even against decent opposition bowling.

Sri Lanka have struck back, thanks to two good catches off two mis-hit shots. First, Dasun Shanaka had Sanju Samson caught in the 16th over, Charith Asalanka backpedalling from cover to hold it over his head. Then, Dushmantha Chameera tracked down a high ball ball to midwicket, where he took a good diving catch to complete an unusual caught-and-bowled. Still, India need only to surpass 188 to get the highest score of the tournament.

Abhishek Sharma might be out, and India might have lost three. But in the seven overs to follow the powerplay, India have kept speeding through the middle overs. Sanju Samson and Tilak Varma are deep in their 20s by the end of the 13th over. Both seem to be finding the boundary with ease.

Charith Asalanka is decidedly not one of Sri Lanka's best bowlers. He's also pitched too short bowling the fourth ball of his first over (the ning of the innings). The way Abhishek Sharma has been batting, he should have thumped that waaaaaay over deep midwicket. Instead he holds out to Kamindu Mendis on the rope.

Abhishek punches his bat before he walks off the field. He has clearly mis-hit that. Asalanka looks relieved - the form batter of the tournament has been wangled out.

While no one has quite been having the Asia Cup that Abhishek Sharma has had, Wanindu Hasaranga has been getting himself back into rhythm following a hamstring injury. He'd had six wickets in five Asia Cup matches before this, and in the seventh over, gets one to dip on Suryakumar Yadav, who is attempting to sweep. In pitches on middle and straightens, and would have gone on to take off stump if SKY's body had not been in the way.

The umpire raises his finger.

SKY burns a review (it always looked pretty plumb).

Hasaranga gets his seventh wicket of the tournament.

This is his third fifty in succession. In this Asia Cup, his lowest score is 30. He has clobbered seven fours and two sixes to get to a half-century off 22 balls.

This is only India's second-best powerplay of the tournament, however. They have 71 for 1 after six overs here. Against Bangladesh, they'd had 72 for no wickets.

India's batter of the tournament so far is flying again. He's struck three fours, and a massive six over deep midwicket, off of the bowling of Theekshana. India are speeding at more than 11 an over.

Maheesh Theekshana is not known for his fielding. But in the second over of this game, he has pulled of a stunner, leaping to his left in his follow-through to hold on to a hard-struck drive from Shubman Gill in the tips of his right hand (the left had provided an assist). There are so many batting weapons in this India top order that it hardly seems a victory to get a wicket. But for Theekshana, who has not played every match in this tournament, a powerplay wicket right now is extremely valuable, as Sri Lanka weigh their bowling options for the World Cup next year.

As round-arm bowler Nuwan Thushara bowls the first over, conceding eight, some might wonder why Matheesha Pathirana is not part of this Sri Lanka XI.

Pathirana is part of the squad, but is not part of the Sri Lanka T20 starting XI at the moment, though he has been a star for Chennai Super Kings over the past three IPLs.

Essentially, where in the IPL the impact-player rule allows CSK to have a bowler who almost exclusively bowls at the death, Sri Lanka believe that Nuwan Thushara is currently the better all-phases bowler. But Thushara has been struggling at points in this Asia Cup too.

It's obvious why Jasprit Bumrah is not playing this game - there is no reason to risk him ahead of Saturday's final. Shivam Dube's omission is a little more fraught. While he has taken important wickets at times, Dube hasn't quite found the batting gears in this tournament yet. Dube had been part of India's T20 World Cup win last year, hitting 27 off 16 in the final. But on some tracks, India might need a bowling-first allrounder like Rana too. x

While India have rested key players, Sri Lanka have swapped out Chamika Karunaratne for Janith Liyanage.

Charith Asalanka was pretty open about SL still searching for the right combination. Essentially, they are looking for the correct composition of allrounder. Liyanage has been good with the bat in ODIs, and has contributed with the ball in that format. Can he do the same in T20Is.

Sri Lanka: Pathum Nissanka, Kusal Mendis (wk), Kusal Perera, Charith Asalanka (capt), Dasun Shanaka, Kamindu Mendis, Janith Liyanage, Wanindu Hasaranga, Maheesh Theekshana, Dushmantha Chameera, Nuwan Thushara