India managed to win a thriller in the Super Over after a dramatic Super Fours clash in the Asia Cup 2025 ended in a tie against Sri Lanka at the Dubai International Stadium on Friday evening.
Reporting from Dubai
India had posted the highest total of the tournament, 202 for 5, before Pathum Nissanka’s maiden T20I century powered Sri Lanka to level the score. However, India fought back valiantly in the Super Over, where Sri Lanka managed only 2 runs, which India chased down in just one delivery to seal the victory.
Nissanka became Sri Lanka’s fourth centurion in T20I cricket, and what began as a dead rubber turned into a thrilling contest. India, however, held on to their unbeaten record heading into their all-important final against arch-rivals Pakistan on Sunday.
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Earlier, after Sri Lanka opted to field, Maheesh Theekshana, bowling the second over of the match, dismissed Shubman Gill with a stunning return catch. Despite the early setback, his partner Abhishek Sharma went on a blitzkrieg with a scintillating batting display. He reached his third consecutive fifty-plus score in the tournament, in just 22 balls, stamping his authority as the top-ranked T20I batter in the world.
India raced to 71 for 1 at the end of the powerplay to set the tone. After the field restrictions were lifted, Wanindu Hasaranga was introduced into the attack, and he immediately removed the struggling Indian captain, Suryakumar Yadav, who attempted to sweep a fuller delivery.
With two left-handers at the crease, Sri Lanka skipper Charith Asalanka brought himself on. His short-pitched half-tracker was mistimed by Abhishek Sharma, who hit it straight to the deep mid-wicket fielder, ending a whirlwind knock of 61 off 31 balls, which included 8 fours and 2 sixes.
Despite the loss of three wickets, India brought up the 100-run mark exactly at the end of the 10th over. Sanju Samson and Tilak Varma then consolidated during the middle overs, adding a valuable 66-run partnership for the fourth wicket.
A sharp catch running back by Charith Asalanka ended Samson’s innings on 39, leaving India 158 for 3 with more than four overs remaining.
Sri Lanka struck again as Dushmantha Chameera sprinted nearly 20 meters to complete a brilliant diving catch off his own bowling, dismissing the dangerous Hardik Pandya.
Tilak Varma and Axar Patel looked to capitalize in the death overs, aided by Sri Lanka’s slow over-rate penalty, which left them with one extra fielder inside the 30-yard circle in the final over. Chameera bowled a near-perfect last over, but Axar Patel lifted the final ball for a six as India became the first team in the Asia Cup 2025 to surpass the 200-run mark.
Chasing a mammoth 203 to win, Sri Lanka got off to a disastrous start when Kusal Mendis fell for a golden duck off Pandya’s bowling — his second consecutive first-ball dismissal of the tournament.
Kusal Perera then joined Pathum Nissanka, and together they produced a destructive 127-run stand for the second wicket — the highest-ever partnership in T20 Asia Cup history, surpassing the 119 added by Virat Kohli and KL Rahul against Afghanistan in 2022.
Sri Lanka’s powerplay score of 72 for 1 was also the highest in the tournament. Both Nissanka and Perera reached their half-centuries off 25 balls each, with Sri Lanka cruising at 114 at the halfway stage.
At 130 for 1 after 11 overs, Sri Lanka looked in complete control, but the Indian spinners — Kuldeep Yadav and Varun Chakravarthy — tightened things up with a couple of tidy overs. The pressure brought the breakthrough, as Perera was stumped off Chakravarthy for a brilliant 32-ball 58.
With only 46 runs needed from the final five overs, skipper Charith Asalanka mistimed one to deep long-on, giving Kuldeep Yadav a wicket in the last over of his spell.
As the require run-rate went above 11-runs per over, Kamindu Mendis too skied one as India started their fightback.
Nissanka reached his maiden T20I hundred with a straight six, in just 52 balls becoming only the 4th Sri Lanka to score a hundred in T20Is.
Sri Lanka needed 12 runs off the last over to complete the run-chase with both Nissanka and Shanaka in the middle. But against the run of play, Nissanka found the short fine-leg fielder in the first ball of the final over. Sri Lanka needed 7 off 2 balls and Shanaka found the boundary off an edge. With 3 runs to win, Shanaka managed to get only 2 runs pushing the game to a Super Over.
Chief Scores
India: 202/5 in 20 overs – Abhishek Sharma 61, Tilak Varma 49*, Sanju Samson 39, Axar Patel 21*
Sri Lanka: 202/5 in 20 overs – Pathum Nissanka 107, Kusal Perera 58, Dasun Shanaka 22*
Super Over – Sri Lanka 2/2 (0.5 overs) and India 3/0 (0.1 overs)
Result
| Batsmen | R | B | 4s | 6s | SR | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Abhishek Sharma | c Kamindu Mendis b Charith Asalanka | 61 | 31 | 8 | 2 | 196.77 |
| Shubman Gill | c & b Maheesh Theekshana | 4 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 133.33 |
| Suryakumar Yadav | lbw b Wanindu Hasaranga | 12 | 13 | 1 | 0 | 92.31 |
| Tilak Varma | not out | 49 | 34 | 4 | 1 | 144.12 |
| Sanju Samson | c Charith Asalanka b Dasun Shanaka | 39 | 23 | 1 | 3 | 169.57 |
| Hardik Pandya | c & b Dushmantha Chameera | 2 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 66.67 |
| Axar Patel | not out | 21 | 15 | 1 | 1 | 140.00 |
| Extras | 14 (b 0 , lb 5 , nb 2, w 7, pen 0) |
| Total | 202/5 (20 Overs, RR: 10.1) |
| Bowling | O | M | R | W | Econ | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nuwan Thushara | 4 | 0 | 43 | 0 | 10.75 | |
| Maheesh Theekshana | 4 | 0 | 36 | 1 | 9.00 | |
| Dushmantha Chameera | 4 | 0 | 40 | 1 | 10.00 | |
| Wanindu Hasaranga | 4 | 0 | 37 | 1 | 9.25 | |
| Dasun Shanaka | 2 | 0 | 23 | 1 | 11.50 | |
| Charith Asalanka | 2 | 0 | 18 | 1 | 9.00 | |
| Batsmen | R | B | 4s | 6s | SR | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pathum Nissanka | c Varun Chakravarthy b Harshit Rana | 107 | 58 | 7 | 6 | 184.48 |
| Kusal Mendis | c Shubman Gill b Hardik Pandya | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 |
| Kusal Perera | st Sanju Samson b Varun Chakravarthy | 58 | 32 | 8 | 1 | 181.25 |
| Charith Asalanka | c Shubman Gill b Kuldeep Yadav | 5 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 55.56 |
| Kamindu Mendis | c Axar Patel b Arshdeep Singh | 3 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 42.86 |
| Dasun Shanaka | not out | 22 | 11 | 2 | 1 | 200.00 |
| Janith Liyanage | not out | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 100.00 |
| Extras | 5 (b 0 , lb 1 , nb 0, w 4, pen 0) |
| Total | 202/5 (20 Overs, RR: 10.1) |
| Bowling | O | M | R | W | Econ | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hardik Pandya | 1 | 0 | 7 | 1 | 7.00 | |
| Arshdeep Singh | 4 | 0 | 46 | 1 | 11.50 | |
| Harshit Rana | 4 | 0 | 54 | 1 | 13.50 | |
| Axar Patel | 3 | 0 | 32 | 0 | 10.67 | |
| Kuldeep Yadav | 4 | 0 | 31 | 1 | 7.75 | |
| Varun Chakravarthy | 4 | 0 | 31 | 1 | 7.75 | |
