Bharath Ramaraj in Colombo
There was some magic off the field. And then there was magic on the field at the Premadasa Stadium. Unfortunately, for the home fans, it was the Indian pace bowlers that ruled the roost, especially Mohammed Siraj, as he ripped through the cream of the batting unit to leave Sri Lanka in disarray in the Asia Cup final. Eventually, Sri Lanka were bundled out for a paltry 50 in 15.2 overs, their second-lowest score in ODIs. India chased down the target in a mere 6.1 overs to take home the trophy.
It was Sri Lanka who won the toss and opted to bat. However, just before the game started, there was a spell of rain. Somewhere, it felt as if a bit of moisture had seeped under. The Indian new-ball duo of Jasprit Bumrah and Siraj didn’t just extract movement off the seam, but they also got a hint of swing to put the Sri Lanka batters under immense pressure.
It took just three deliveries for Bumrah to make a breakthrough. Kusal Perera was the first one to fall as he edged a delivery that moved away appreciably to KL Rahul behind the stumps. Pathum Nissanka, the other opener, then punched one from Siraj towards backward point, where Ravindra Jadeja pouched a sharp catch.
That was the very over in which Siraj broke the back of Sri Lanka’ s batting. He bowled a clutch of three-quarter-seam deliveries, alongside finding a bit of swing to dismiss Sadeera Samarawickrama, Charith Asalanka and Dhananjaya de Silva. In fact, he was on a hat-trick when Aslanka pushed one to cover. Although Dhananjaya survived that particular delivery by collecting a boundary, he soon had to walk back to the hut after chasing an outswinger. By then, Siraj’s celebrations – CR7’s “Siuu” was on full display.
Kusal Mendis, the No. 3 batter, was the only one who seemed to have an idea of how to counter the nifty movement on view. The first ball he faced, he had loaded up quickly to prod forward and drive through cover for a boundary. He did edge a couple through the third man region but with the pitch offering assistance, any batter would have needed the rub of the green.
Ultimately, he was cleaned up by the man of the moment, Siraj. Once Mendis was dismissed, it was just a matter of time before India wrapped up the innings. Hardik Pandya picked up three wickets for just three runs to provide the finishing touches. Siraj finished with astonishing figures of 6 for 21. Shubman Gill and Ishan Kishan then did the formalities. Gill, in particular, looked in supreme touch, stroking a hat-trick of boundaries in the third over.
Siraj’s spell was one of those I-was-there moments for a cricket aficionado. However, all the action wasn’t just restricted to what happened on the field. When you arrived at the ground, there was a long queue of Sri Lankan fans. Every single time a boundary was hit, the noise around the ground was deafening. The drums also kept beating right through Sri Lanka’s innings. But there wasn’t much for those fans to cheer.