Pathum Nissanka’s century forced a Super Over, but India wrapped up the game with ease afterwards

TimesofIndia.com in Dubai: It took a Super Over to produce the result of the most inconsequential match of the Asia Cup.Pathum Nissanka’s (107 off 58 balls; 7×4, 6×6) maiden T20I ton went in vain as India held their nerve to keep their winning streak alive in the tournament.Even in the Super Over, there was drama.On the fourth ball of the Super Over, Dasun Shanaka missed a wild hoick and an alert Sanju Samson hit the stumps with a direct hit from an under-arm flick. It was a yorker-length ball, Shanaka moved away, tried to dig it out, but missed. The ball went past the edge with no bat involved. For some reason, Shanaka was off for a run, but Samson hit the bullseye. Since it had already been given out caught behind and reviewed, the ball was declared dead, and umpire Gazi Sohel made his point clear to India that the first decision would stand. Because the bowler’s-end umpire had signaled out, the ball was dead—allowing Shanaka to escape the run-out.However, it cost India little, as Arshdeep Singh dismissed Shanaka with the very next ball and India sealed the match.Chasing 203, Nissanka came down on the Indian bowlers like a ton of bricks and smashed the first century of the Asia Cup off just 52 balls. The Sri Lankan opener attacked from ball one and spared none. He teed off with a boundary off the first delivery, but lost opening partner Kusal Mendis in the very first over.Hardik Pandya struck early, removing Mendis for a duck, but Nissanka and Kusal Perera counterattacked brilliantly. The pair tore into both seamers and spinners, adding 127 runs for the second wicket.Nissanka was the star, blasting 7 fours and 6 sixes en route to his maiden T20I century. Perera too looked fluent, scoring 58 off 32 balls, before Varun Chakravarthy broke the stand by dismissing the left-hander in the 13th over.Charith Asalanka (5) and Kamindu Mendis (3) failed to capitalise on the platform, while skipper Shanaka chipped in with a brisk 22 not out off 11 balls. Nissanka’s fine knock ended on 107 in the final over, courtesy of Harshit Rana.The match went down to the wire. With Sri Lanka needing three runs off the last delivery, Shanaka heaved it to the leg side. A misfield in the deep, followed by a fumble from Rana while collecting, left the door open for a third run. But Shanaka and Janith Liyanage chose to settle for two, dragging the contest into a Super Over.Earlier, Abhishek Sharma’s 31-ball 61 and Sanju Samson’s fluent 39 helped India post an imposing 202 for 5 against Sri Lanka in their final Super 4s clash at the Dubai International Stadium on Friday.It was the highest total of the tournament so far, eclipsing India’s 188 against Oman and Afghanistan’s identical tally versus Hong Kong.Abhishek set the tone with a 31-ball 61, his third straight half-century, while Samson finally found his rhythm at No. 5, smashing three sixes in a 22-ball cameo. Tilak Varma anchored the innings superbly, finishing unbeaten on 49 off 34 balls—a knock that will give him plenty of confidence.Abhishek’s dominance in the powerplay has become a hallmark of this tournament. His innings, peppered with eight fours and two sixes, once again threatened to turn into a century before he was caught at deep mid-wicket off a Charith Asalanka half-tracker.Earlier, Shubman Gill (4) perished when a Maheesh Theekshana delivery stopped on him, the leading edge comfortably pouched by the bowler. Skipper Suryakumar Yadav’s (12) lean patch continued, trapped leg-before by Wanindu Hasaranga while attempting a sweep.Samson’s arrival changed the tempo. Batting with intent, he looked in ominous touch for the first time in the tournament. His standout strike was a towering hit straight down the ground off Hasaranga, muscled into the sight-screen after he shuffled across to create room. Soon after, he dispatched Shanaka over cow corner for another maximum.

Samson and Tilak added 66 runs in just 6.5 overs to set the stage for a late flourish, which Axar Patel capped with a last-over six to push India beyond 200.India will take on Pakistan in the summit clash on Sunday.