Dubai: Abhishek Sharma notched up his third consecutive half-century in the tournament as India posted a massive total of 202/5 in 20 overs against Sri Lanka in their inconsequential Super 4 stage clash of the Men’s T20 Asia Cup 2025 at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium here on Friday.
Middle-order batters Sanju Samson and Tilak Varma shone bright with the bat during this outing to help India get to a whopping total after Abhishek’s dismissal in the first half of the innings.
Put in to bat first, India suffered a setback early in the Power-play as Maheesh Theekshana dismissed Shubman Gill in the second over to leave India at 15/1 after 1.3 overs. However, Abhishek and skipper Suryakumar Yadav did not let that affect the momentum as they carried the innings forward.
Abhishek maintained his recent form and notched up yet another half-century to lead the scoring charts for India. The skipper, however, registered another low score after being dismissed for a 13-ball 12 by Wanindu Hasaranga.
Opener Abhishekk, on the other hand, displayed fine composure as he kept hitting the bowlers for fours and sixes even when wickets kept falling at the other end. The 25-year-old’s innings ended in the ninth over as Charith Asalanka finally got the big fish in his bag.
Attempting to hit a six off a half-tracker delivery around off, Abhishek pulled it away but failed to get the ball over the line as Kamindu Mendis positioned himself well at deep mid-wicket to complete a fine catch. Abhishek scored 61 off 31 balls, studded with eight boundaries and two maximums. He had earlier scored 75 against Pakistan in India’s previous match.
Varma and Samson shared a crucial partnership under pressure, taking on the opposition bowlers brilliantly. The wicketkeeper-batter hammered three sixes and a four in his knock of 39 (23 balls) and helped power the second half of India’s innings.
All-rounder Hardik Pandya failed to put on a show with the bat and was dismissed cheaply for a three-ball two. However, Varma anchored the innings beautifully and held his guard till the end to finish at 49*(34). Axar Patel too played a beautiful knock in the death overs and added 21 runs off the 15 balls he faced while partnering with Varma.
In all, six bowlers took charge with the ball for the 20 overs, with five finishing with one wicket apiece as the Lankan Lions failed to prevent the Indian batters from going past the 200-run mark.
Brief scores:
India 202/5 in 20 overs (Abhishek Sharma 61, Tilak Varma 49*, Sanju Samson 39; Maheesh Theekshana 1-36, Charith Asalanka 1-18) against Sri Lanka
(IANS)
