Asia Cup, Match 6: Sri Lanka beat UAE by 142 runs

Five wicket haul by Mendis helped Sri Lanka thrash minnows UAE by 142 runs. Earlier, Sangakkara was out for zero in the first over. Udawatte and skipper Jayawardane put on 114 for the 2nd wicket and stabilized the innings.

Tournament: Asia Cup
Match: 6
Group: A
Venue: Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore
Date: June 26, 2008
Teams: Sri Lanka and UAE
Captains: DPMD Jayawardane and Saqid Ali
Toss: Sri Lanka won the toss and decided to bat
Result: Sri Lanka won by 142 runs
Points: Sri Lanka 2; UAE 0
Man of the Match: BAW Mendis off Sri Lanka
Score:

Sri Lanka 290 for 9 in 50 overs (KC Sangakkara 0, ML Udawatte 67, DPMD Jayawardene 61, CK Kapugedera 11, LPC Silva 6, TM Dilshan 24, K Weeraratne 40, T Thushara 10, KMDN Kulasekara 37, BAW Mendis 15 not out, CRD Fernando 0 not out, Extras--19 (b 1, lb 7, w 11), Zahid Shah 10-1-49-3, Fahad Alhashmi 5-0-39-2, Aman Ali 2-0-22-0, Saqib Ali 7-0-44-1, Mohammad Tauqir 10-0-47-2, Khurram Khan 10-0-55-0, Arshad Ali 6-0-26-0) beat United Arab Emirates 148 all out in 36.3 overs (Amjad Ali 77, Arshad Ali 6, IPP Batuwitarachchi 14, Saqib Ali 19, Khurram Khan 2, Mohammad Tauqir 9, N Fernandes 5, Alawi Shukri 1, Zahid Shah 6 not out, Fahad Alhashmi 0, Aman Ali 0, Extras--9 (b 1, lb 1, w 5, nb 2), KMDN Kulasekara 5-2-25-0, K Weeraratne 4-1-23-0, CRD Fernando 7-0-40-1, BAW Mendis 6.3-1-22-5, TM Dilshan 7-2-14-1, T Thushara 7-0-22-2)

Match 11: India enters Final with easy win over Sri Lanka!

Everything went right for India including the crucial toss and rightly asking Sri Lanka to bat first. In this crucial tie between India and Sri Lanka, the win for India would take them to Finals and if Sri Lanka wins, they have to win the other match to move to Finals.

Perera, lacking experience, was bowled by Sharma for 8. Then Jayasuriya and Sangakkara created a new partnership and posed a threat to Indians. Praveen Kumar broke the partnership and struck 3 times in each of his first three overs.

Sangakkara was the first victim of Praveen Kumar caught by Dhoni. Jayawardane was caught at point and then Silva was caught by Dhoni again.

Jayasuriya was dismissed for 34 by Pathan and Ishanth dismissed Dilshan for 8 and Vaas for zero. Ishanth two blows left Sri Lanka struggling at 93 for 7 in the 26th over. The 46-run partnership between Kapugedera and Malinga helped Sri Lanka to set the score beyond 150. Kapugedera was the last batsman to be dismissed for 57 off 86 balls with 4 fours.

Uthappa along with Sachin added 18 for the first wicket before Uthappa was caught by Amerasinghe of Malinga. Tendulkar and Gambhir played sensibly and added 102 for the 2nd wicket. Tendulkar was back to his form and was showing the way to the rest of the youngsters in the team. While trying to play over extra covers of Muralitharan, Tendular's lofted shot ended in long off fielder's hand leaving India another 60 runs in 30 overs. Yuvaraj scored a quick 36 off 35 balls with 4 fours and a six. He was out of Perera when the score was 171. With 9 to get in 20.2 overs, it was easy for Gambhir and Rohit Sharma to finish the task. Gambhir was not out on 63 off 89 balls with 5 fours.

With this win, India's point tally raised to 17 including bonus point and Sri Lanka is out of the tournament. India qualify for the final!

Final Score:

Sri Lanka 179 in 47.1 overs (Jayasuriya 34, Sangakkara 33, Kapugedera 57, Ishanth Sharma 4 for 41, Praveen Kumar 4 for 31) lost to India 180 for 3 in 32.2 overs (Tendulkar 63, Gambhir 63 not out, Yuvaraj 36)
Man of the Match: Praveen Kumar (India)