Dunith Wellalage devastated the Indian top order with a five-wicket haul in an Asia Cup Super 4 match and the young Sri Lankan left-arm spinner said he will cherish the big wickets of Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma. Wellalage took five wickets and conceded 40 runs, helping Sri Lanka restrict India to 213. Besides Kohli and Rohit, Wellalage also dismissed Hardik Pandya, Shubman Gill and KL Rahul.
“For me, Virat Kohli is the No. 1 batsman. I am very happy that I got those two (Kohli and Rohit) big wickets. I trust my base, and myself,” Wellalage said during the post-match press conference.
The 20-year-old said he was trying to bowl a wicket-to-wicket line against a bunch of experienced batsmen.
“The batters were set and India had started fantastically. I was just trying to bowl wicket to wicket. Once we got those three wickets in three overs, we were able to put pressure on India.
“There was turn and if you put the ball in the right area you could upset the batsmen. But I would have been happier with a win,” Wellalage said.
Despite India being restricted to 213, Sri Lanka could only manage 172 to lose the match by 41 runs.
Later, Wellalage also made a good impression with the bat, scoring 42 off 46 balls.
The left-handed batsman shared a 63-run alliance for the seventh wicket with Dhananjaya de Silva, reviving Lankan hopes of a win.
“I just tried to support him. We didn’t want to take any risks. His plan was to try to get closer to the Indian total,” he said.
Sri Lanka will take on Pakistan in a virtual knockout match on Thursday, with the winner set to host a title clash with India on September 17.
Wellalage hoped that his team would reach the final.
“We have played four games so far and we are happy to have won three. The bigger picture is that we have one more game to go.
“We still have a chance to reach the final, and hopefully we will succeed,” he added.
