Asia Cup T20 2016: India vs Sri Lanka - 5 Talking Points

India qualified for the final of the 2016 Asia Cup T20 after they defeated Sri Lanka by 5 wickets at Shere Bangla National Stadium, Mirpur on Tuesday. Apart from a fabulous opening spell from Nuwan Kulasekara, India were hardly troubled and eased to victory thanks to fine batting efforts from Virat Kohli and Yuvraj Singh.Earlier, the Indian bowlers – especially Ashish Nehra, Jasprit Bumrah and Ravichandran Ashwin – continued from where they had left off in the previous match against Pakistan and restricted the Sri Lankans to just 138 in their 20 overs.An unbeaten half-century from Kohli and a quick-fire 35 from Yuvraj helped India chase down the target with four balls left.Here are 5 talking points from the India-Sri Lanka clash:

#1 India pick up wickets at regular intervals

In the past, the biggest problem for India has been in their bowling department. At the Asia Cup, though, it has been the bowling that has stood out for the Men in Blue and it was no different on Tuesday.

Ashish Nehra took the wicket of Dinesh Chandimal in the third over and there was no looking back after that as Sri Lanka lost wickets at regular intervals. The Sri Lankans couldn’t muster a single 50-run partnership as they ended with 138/9 in their 20 overs.

MS Dhoni decided to bowl three overs of Nehra and Jasprit Bumrah each in the Powerplay and they didn’t disappoint as they conceded just 31 runs in the first six. Despite the Sri Lankan lower-order batsmen taking on Nehra and Bumrah at the backend of the innings, both the pacers ended with very respectable figures of 1/23 and 2/27 respectively.

Although Ravindra Jadeja had an off day, his spin partner Ravichandran Ashwin was in fine form as he picked up the key wickets of Milinda Siriwardana and Thisara Perera – both of whom were taking the attack to the Indian bowlers.

The top score in the Sri Lankan innings was 30 which clearly shows that the Indian bowling never allowed any batsman to get away at any point of the innings.

#2 No hat-trick for Hardik Pandya

In India’s previous match against Pakistan, Indian all-rounder Hardik Pandya had picked up two wickets - Mohammad Sami and Mohammad Amir - from the last two deliveries he bowled. Today, he came into bowl in the 7th over and took the wicket of Tillakaratne Dilshan off the very first ball he bowled.

With three wickets in three deliveries, there was a lot of debate on social media if Pandya had taken a hat-trick.

Since the three balls were spread over two matches, this won’t be counted as an official hat-trick. According to the definition of a hat-trick in cricket, all three dismissals have to occur in the same match.

In case of a Test match, a hat-trick can be over two innings of the same match.

Pandya ended with figures of 2/26 in his four overs.

#3 Poor umpiring continues

The India vs Pakistan match on Saturday saw a number of poor decisions, which led to Indian skipper MS Dhoni remarking that earpieces are damaging the decision-making abilities of the umpires.

"You know all the umpires now have a walkie-talkie and earpiece in their ear. So effectively, in a way it means that they are umpiring with only one ear and the other ear is stuck with an earpiece," Dhoni said.

On Tuesday, the match was again marred by some poor umpiring – especially the decision in the 19th over of the Sri Lankan innings when the square leg umpire decided to send Thisara Perera back to the pavilion by making an on-field call when the third umpire was available.

Ravichandran Ashwin bowled a wide ball and Perera – who was batting on 17 off 8 deliveries – came down the track and tried to go for a big shot. The Sri Lankan all-rounder missed the ball completely and Dhoni, as he usually does, took the bails off in a flash.

The umpire had no hesitation in giving Perera out and didn’t find the need to refer it to the third umpire. Replays, though, showed that Perera had managed to get his bat back in time before Dhoni could whip off the bails.

This was a crucial moment in the match as Perera was looking in fine form and could have helped increase Sri Lanka’s total by a few runs.

#4 Kohli shows his class

Virat Kohli failed to reach his half-century in the previous match against Pakistan as he was wrongly adjudged leg-before-wicket on 49. But this time, there was no stopping the Indian vice-captain as he remained unbeaten on 56 and guided the Men in Blue to victory.

Coming into bat at 11/1, Kohli showed his intentions early on as he hit a beautiful shot off his legs for a four off just the 5th delivery he faced. The loss of Rohit Sharma at the other end didn’t affect Kohli much as he continued to be in full flow.

Suresh Raina joined the Delhi batsman in the middle and the duo’s 54-run partnership helped the Indians get in the driver’s seat after Nuwan Kulasekara had reduced them to 16/2.

Kohli’s adaptability was shown when Yuvraj Singh came to the crease. The left-handed batsman was hitting the big shots and Kohli was more than happy to just rotate the strike during their partnership.

What was interesting to see with Kohli’s batting against Sri Lanka was that he was almost always trying to come down the track, especially against the medium-pace bowlers. The strategy worked brilliantly as he was able to negotiate whatever swing the bowlers were producing.

The Indian number three averages above 100 in T20Is played in 2016 and has won the Man of the Match award in 4 out of the 6 matches he has played in the format this year.

#5 Yuvraj plays a fluent knock

It was against Sri Lanka at the Shere Bangla National Stadium, Mirpur in 2014 that Yuvraj Singh came under a lot of criticism after a knock that according to many cost India the World T20 final after the MS Dhoni-led team had looked invincible during the tournament.

After the match, Yuvraj’s house was pelted with stones by some fans and he was dropped from the Indian team. He returned to the national T20 side after some impressive performances in the Vijay Hazare Trophy recently, but hasn’t looked very convincing in the most of the innings he has played since his return.

On Saturday, he scored 14 off 32 balls against Pakistan - a knock that drew praise and criticism in equal measure. While some felt that he looked totally out of touch, others hailed him for not losing his wicket and staying at the crease until the end.

On Tuesday, against the same opposition he had faced in 2014 and at the same venue, the 34-year-old came into bat when India needed 69 runs to win and Sri Lanka still having a sniff in the game. He had just one thing in mind when he came out to bat and started attacking the bowlers from the word go.

One could see glimpses of the old Yuvraj as he slammed Rangana Herath for two consecutive sixes and raced to 18 in just 6 balls. In the end, he was dismissed for 35 but not before he had made sure that victory for India was just a mere fomality.

A hat-trick is when a bowler takes wkts of 3 batsmen in as many balls in same match.And in fc cricket it can spread over 2 inns#IndvsSL

— Mohandas Menon (@mohanstatsman) March 1, 2016