Asela Gunaratne walked into bat in a precarious position in his team’s crunch clash against India in the Group B encounter on Thursday (June 8). At 271 for three after the 43rd over, Sri Lanka was well on course to overhaul India’s 321 but they suddenly found themselves in a slight spot of bother when a well set Kusal Perera was forced to retire hurt.
The 31-year old, who had already shown his hard-hitting potential during the historic T20 series win in Australia earlier this year, did not start on a promising note, playing three consecutive dot balls. However, once he hit Umesh Yadav for a well-timed six over the fine leg, there was absolutely no looking back.
In the very next over, he hit Bhuvneshwar Kumar for two fours to race to 17 off just 10 balls, bringing down the equation to 32 from 30 balls. And it was followed by a stunning sweep for six over the square leg in the next over bowled by his Mumbai Indians teammate Jasprit Bumrah, as the island nation cruised to victory with eight balls to spare.
The right-handed batsman, who remained not out on 31 off just 22 balls, later credited his stint in the Indian Premier League for his brilliant knock in the pressure situation. Few days after his heroics in Australia, he was picked up by eventual winners Mumbai Indians in the auction and although he did not play a single game, he said that the experience of sharing the same dressing room with Indian players helped him to play the quickfire knock.
“Bumrah and Pandya were playing alongside me at Mumbai Indians and I had faced them in the nets. So I had a fair idea how they operate and what to expect. Before I went to bat, Lasith Malinga had a quick word and said to expect the slower ball,” Gunaratne said after the game.
“In team meetings, we discuss strategy and how to go about things in the last few overs and what could be done to not to give away too many runs. So the strategies of the bowlers give you a fair idea and I knew what to expect. I didn’t play IPL games, but the time spent with them was valuable,” he added.
Sri Lanka’s next game against Pakistan on Monday (June 12) and a win will take them to the semifinal while India can also reach the last four with a win over South Africa on Sunday (June 11). A defeat, meanwhile, will end the campaign for either of the sides.