It was yet another heartbreaking day for the Indian fans, as the men in blue now stand on the cusp of elimination from the Asia Cup. Sri Lanka won the game with a ball to spare and 6 wickets in hand. This loss has effectively knocked the Indian team out of contention for a place in the final. India had won the title the last two times but some bad fielding and toothless death overs bowling, meant that Sri Lanka came out on top. Rohit Sharma was left looking clueless and searching for answers as the Indian team which had fought back well during the game lost yet another close game. India began their super 4 stage with a close loss to Pakistan on Sunday.
FInal over yet again as Rishabh Pant fluffs his lines -
Sri Lanka needed 21 off the last two overs, and Bhuvneshwar Kumar yet again proved costly bowling the 19th over. The veteran and experienced India pacer let 14 runs off the over to have, underfire Arshdeep to defend 7 runs off the last over. The first ball of the final over was a yorker which yielded a single. The 2nd ball also saw a single being scored while the third ball saw 2 runs being eked out to make it 3 off 3. The 4th ball saw another single being taken to make it 2 off 2. The penultimate ball was where the match ended and it was heartbreak for the Indian fans. Shanaka swung and missed the ball as Pant with just one glove flung the ball to run out Rajapaksa. The ball missed the stumps and Arshdeep spotting Shanaka out of his crease threw the ball to the bowlers end. Shanaka who had dropped his bat saw the ball miss the stumps and there was misfield as the back up fielders had fluffed their lines. The two batters went back to complete their run and took Sri Lanka to a famous win.
India on the cusp of Elimination -
Indian team will witness the game between Afghanistan and Pakistan and hope the Afghan team can beat the Pakistanis on Wednesday. A win for Pakistan means Sri Lanka and Pakistan are favorites to play the final on Sunday. If Afghanistan beat Pakistan and India beat the Afghans by a big margin on Thursday, followed by a Sri Lankan win on Friday against Pakistan. It would lead to India reaching the final, but the Indian hopes are as thin as a thread in a storm.
Twitter reacts to the last over drama -
Indian fans werent happy with what they saw as they vented their ire on twitter after yet another loss. You can read all the tweets below
Abay bat to suno bicharay ki pic.twitter.com/KBJkEIXD01
— samia (@samiaa056) September 6, 2022
— Richard (@Richard10719932) September 6, 2022
Sorry India you can't play final against Pakistan😁
— ASfA 🖤 (@asfashokat12345) September 6, 2022
Welcome to Mumbai airport😸#IND/SL pic.twitter.com/dySIRu1JC7
Brilliant by Sri Lanka. They were better than India and deserved the win. Pakistan Vs Sri Lanka final loading.....#AsiaCup2022#INDvsSL pic.twitter.com/c0jAhQpBSD
— aliyanadeem65 (@aliyanadeem654) September 6, 2022