The Asia Cup was a chance for India to wipe the slate clean after the horrors of Australia, and they began their campaign by playing to their strengths - batting the opposition out of the game. Centuries by Gautam Gambhir and Virat Kohli took India to 304, and though the efforts of their bowlers cannot be ignored, crucial wickets were gifted away by Sri Lanka. It was an underwhelming performance by a Sri Lankan batting line-up that stretches till No.9, which in some ways was a spin-off from their performance in the loss in the third CB series final against Australia.
The tweaked batting Powerplay rule - mandatory before the 40th over - was brought about to make captains think more. In many games since its introduction, including this one, it turned out to be the game-changer. Sri Lanka were still well-placed at the end of the 35th over, needing 109 off the last 15 overs with seven wickets in hand. The loss of Kumar Sangakkara off the first ball of the field restrictions was the start of the turnaround for India; they picked up three more wickets for 31 runs in that period. Irfan Pathan picked up four wickets, including Mahela Jayawardene, to give India a fairly comprehensive win in the final analysis, though at one stage it looked a lot closer.
India owed their resurgence to their two most in-form batsmen from Australia - Kohli and Gambhir. One was recently made the vice-captain, the other had the same post taken away from him. Any simmering tension, fictional or not, was barely evident as they added 205 to give India the kind of prolonged authority rarely seen when in Australia.
India managed only two 100-plus stands in the CB Series, that too in the same game, in Hobart. The common thread between the two games was Kohli. This innings wasn't as manic, but the effect was still demoralising for Sri Lanka, who took control at the start of the innings but had to wait an eternity to strike again.
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