Not for the first time in the tournament, the first half of India’s innings was all about . But with Sunday’s T20 Asia Cup final against Pakistan beckoning, two middle-order batters got among the runs at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium on Friday night.
In theory, this was a match of mere statistical relevance with Sri Lanka eliminated, but there is no such thing as a dead rubber in international cricket. India, one suspects, had more to aim for than , playing only for pride. They will be disappointed that there was no significant contribution from either their captain or his deputy, they will be heartened by Tilak Varma and Sanju Samson playing themselves into the runs. India raced away to 202-5, the highest total of the tournament, to keep themselves on course for their sixth successive victory.
Tilak Varma (left) and Sanju Samson during their 66-run stand
Gill goes early
Shubman Gill, who has had a strange time of it, fell in the second over to an excellent return catch by Maheesh Theekshana while Suryakumar Yadav’s horror run either side of an unbeaten 47 against continued when he was trapped leg before on the sweep by leg-spinner Wanindu Hasaranga. Both right-handers have been below their best in the last fortnight, especially the captain, but it wasn’t all doom and gloom for his team, put in by Charith Asalanka.
Abhishek batted with the freedom and abandon that has characterised his stroke-making throughout the competition. His third consecutive fifty might not have got off to a convincing start with Nuwan Thushara bothering him with his slingy action and full lengths, but once he got going, there was no stopping him.
Samson silences doubters
The boundaries came in a rush until he was caught at deep mid-wicket trying to pull Asalanka’s off-spin. That was in the ninth over. The second half was all about Tilak’s ability to play the situation and Samson showing his comfort in the middle order for the first time. There have been question marks over the right-hander’s ability to kick on when he comes in with the field spread, but he provided some convincing answers with a trio of sixes, including two off Hasaranga.
Tilak has displayed nice touch in most of his hits and he continued to impress and entertain even though there was no joy for Hardik Pandya, superbly caught by Dushmanth Chameera who whirled around in his followthrough and sprinted to mid-wicket to hold a skier.