Dubai, Sep 6 (UNI) Before Dilshan Madhushanka pulled it back for Sri Lanka towards the end, Rohit Sharma scored a brilliant 72 off 41 to help India post a challenging 173/8 in the third Asia Cup Super-4 T20 match at Dubai International Stadium here on Tuesday.
The total could yet be a challenging one on a pitch where the ball is not coming on to the bat as it did in the Pakistan game.
Rohit changed the complexion of the game after India lost two early wickets of KL Rahul and Virat Kohli. The Indian captain raced to his 28th T20I fifty in just 32 balls and then ran riot to give a black eye to the Sri Lankan bowlers before they bounced back.
Before he departed, Rohit achieved a major milestone as he became the first Indian batsman to complete 1,000 runs in Asia Cup history after he went past Sachin Tendulkar, who had finished with 971 runs in 23 matches in the Asia Cup. Tendulkar got all these runs in ODI games.
Rohit is now only third on the all-time list behind Sri Lanka’s Sanath Jayasuriya and Kumar Sangakkara.
Suryakumar Yadav contributed 34, while Hardik Pandya and Rishabh Pant scored 17. None other batsmen contributed, except Ravichandran Ashwin (15 off 7) who took India's total to a challenging one by whacking one for a maximum.
For Sri Lanka, Madushanka (3/24), Chamika Karunaratne (2/27) and Dasun Shanaka (2/26) were the main wicket takers.
Earlier, Shanaka won the toss and sent India to bat first, looking to seal a final spot in the Asia Cup T20.
It is a must-win match for India to stay in the hunt for the final after they lost to Pakistan in their opening match of the Super 4 round.
If India loses to Sri Lanka, they will be left at the mercy of other teams and their results.
India made one change for the crucial game, with off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin coming in for Ravi Bishnoi. There were no changes in Sri Lanka eleven that beat Afghanistan in their Super 4.

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