Twitter Reactions: Kuldeep Yadav overpowers Dunith Wellalage's all-round show to steer India into Asia Cup 2023 final

The action continued in the Asia Cup 2023 Super 4 stage as India and Sri Lanka locked horns in Match 4 on Tuesday, September 12 at R.Premadasa Stadium, Colombo. India captain Rohit Sharma won the toss and elected to bat first and got his team off to a great start along with Shubman Gill. The duo added 80 runs for the first wicket off 67 balls and once again put the opposition under pressure like the previous game.

However, just when things looked good for India, Sri Lanka captain Dasun Shanaka brought Dunith Wellalage into the attack and the left-arm spinner responded immediately. The 20-year-old picked the prized scalps of Gill (19 off 25), Virat Kohli (3 off 12) and Rohit (53 off 48). After three quick wickets, Ishan Kishan (33 off 61) and KL Rahul (39 off 44) put on a 63-run stand for the fourth wicket off 89 balls to stabilize the innings.

However, Wellalage once again struck for his side and dismissed Rahul to break the stand leaving India on 154/4 in 30 overs. From there on, India suffered a dramatic collapse and were restricted to 186/9. Axar Patel played a handy knock of 26 (36) to take India to 213 all out in 49.1 overs. Wellalage was the pick of the bowlers for Sri Lanka with his spell of (5/40) in ten overs while Charith Asalanka (4/18, 9 overs) also picked up a four-fer.

In reply, Sri Lanka didn’t get off to a good start as Jasprit Bumrah dismissed Pathum Nissanka (6 off 7) and Kusal Mendis (15 off 16). From the other end, Mohammed Siraj got rid of Dimuth Karunaratne (2 off 18) to leave Sri Lanka on 25/3 after 7.1 overs. After three early blows, Sadeera Samarawickrama (17 off 31) and Charith Asalanka (22 off 35) added 43 runs for the fourth wicket to stabilize the innings.

Dunith Wellalage left stranded on 42*

However, Kuldeep Yadav and Ravindra Jadeja picked three wickets between them to leave Sri Lanka on 99/6 after 25.1 overs. Dunith Wellalage began troubling India with the bat as well as he added 63 runs for the seventh wicket with Dhananjaya de Silva (41 off 66). Ravindra Jadeja came to his team’s rescue by dismissing de Silva in the 38^th over. Following that, no other batter could support Wellalage (42* off 46) as Sri Lanka were all out for 172 handing India a victory by 41 runs.

As a result, Sri Lanka's winning streak of 13 consecutive ODIs came to an end and India qualified for the Asia Cup 2023 final. Kuldeep Yadav finished as the pick of the bowlers for India second day in a row as he picked (4/43) in 9.3 overs while Jasprit Bumrah (2/30, 7 overs) and Jadeja (2/33, 10 overs) picked two wickets each.

Meanwhile, X was abuzz with reactions on India’s win. Here are some of the posts: