CHENNAI: When Abhishek Sharma was caught at deep square leg by Kamindu Mendis in the eighth over against Sri Lanka in the Asia Cup Super 4s on Friday, the team management led by head coach Gautam Gambhir might have been thinking on how the middle order would fare, especially after dismissals of the top three including Shubman Gill and skipper Suryakumar Yadav. In India’s perfect campaign so far, it was Sharma and Gill who have scored most of India’s runs and in two of the five games, played a key role in chasing down the targets. This also meant the middle order did not get enough time in the middle as they would have wanted.
The inconsequential game against Sri Lanka was the perfect opportunity for them to get their much needed gametime and wicketkeeper-batter Sanju Samson along with Tilak Varma made the most of the opportunity by adding 66 runs for the fourth wicket in Dubai — the first fifty or above partnership between two Indian batters where neither Sharma or Gill was involved. Samson departed but Varma along with all-rounder Axar Patel made sure India breach the 200-run mark, a first for any team in the tournament. The only blip could have been Hardik Pandya, who has had a rather inconsistent tournament with the bat so far, as he once again failed to reach the double figures, his third in the event.
Before Friday’s match, Suryakumar and Co got to bat 20 overs only twice in their five games — against Oman and Bangladesh — and this might have also contributed to the inconsistency of their middle order.
In their Group A match against Oman, none of the middle order batters could convert their quick starts to big scores. The team management was also flexible in its approach with Axar Patel (26 off 13) coming at No 3 while Varma (29 off 18) walking to the crease at No 7 in that match. Pandya (1 off 1) and Shivam Dube (5 off 8) failed to click then but Samson shrugged off a nervy start to slam 56 off 45 balls. The India skipper, whose highest score is 47 versus Pakistan in the group match on September 14, didn’t come out to bat. Going into the final, his form could be a big worry for the team as he was dismissed for 12 on Friday. Overall he has managed 7 not out, 47 not out, 0, 5 and 12 in five innings.
Even in their Super Fours match against Bangladesh, India ended up with an above-par total despite a quick start by their openers. Dismissal of Sharma (75 off just 37 balls) put the brakes on their scoring rate with the team managing only 54 runs from the last eight overs. Pandya’s 29-ball 38 helped them reach 168/6 which proved more than enough in the end. Dube was promoted up the order then but he failed to make the most of the opportunity. The southpaw on Friday was replaced with pacer Harshit Rana. With their last Super Fours outing being an inconsequential match, India wanted their middle order batters to get some valuable runs under their belt and that goal seemed to have been achieved with Varma, Samson and Axar playing knocks of significance.
Pathum Nissanka hit a superb century as Sri Lanka scored exactly the same as India (202/5), enforcing a Super Over in the process. Arshdeep came to the fore in the Super Over to guide India home.
Brief scores: India 202/5 in 20 ovs (Abhishek 61, Tilak 49 n.o) tied with SL 202/5 in 20 ovs (Nissanka 107, Perera 58; Hardik 1/7). India won in Super Over