India and Sri Lanka are undoubtedly tired of facing each other by now, but to be fair, their locking horns in the Asia Cup was unavoidable, and their facing each other twice - once in this dead rubber, and once in the final - was ironic. Familiarity bred no contempt, though, at least not for the first innings, which was a back and forth tussle before Ferveez Maharoof became the third Sri Lankan to take a ODI hat-trick, breaking the Indian lower-middle order and setting up an easy win for the hosts.
India made a good start batting first, putting up 58 for the first wicket in 11 overs, before Suraj Randiv took a brilliant catch to remove Gautam Ghambir off Angelo Mathews' bowling. Virat Kohli and Dinesh Karthik fell in quick succession to Maharoof and Rangana Herath respectively, both caught behind. Suresh Raina went LBW to Herath to leave India at the tricky position of 110/4 after 22 overs, but Rohit Sharma and Mahendra Singh Dhoni put on a 79-run partnership together to take India to 189/4 in the 37th over. Just when it looked like the ship had steadied and the Indians were ready for a death-overs onslaught, Dhoni was run out against the run of play by sharp work from Chamara Kapugera. One ball later, Ravindra Jadeja almost fell over in his crease to a straight ball from Maharoof. The next ball, Praveen Kumar chopped one onto his stumps, and Zaheer Khan was acrobatically caught behind the next delivery to give Maharoof his hat-trick. He wasn't done yet, bowling Ashok Dinda to get his second ODI five-wicket haul. Trying to keep strike, Rohit Sharma was the last wicket to fall, run out by a razor sharp throw from Mahela Jayawardene for 69, as India folded for 209 in only 42 overs.
Needing only 4.2 an over to win didn't stop Tillekeratne Dilshan from hitting his first three balls for 4, 4 and 6. He fell quickly to Zaheer Khan for 24, but Sri Lanka were already 38 in the 5th over. With the platform set, Sri Lanka moved on. Khan bowled a good line to induce an edge from Upul Tharanga (38), leaving Sri Lanka at 80/2 in the 13th over. The old shop of Kumar Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardene came together for a 104-run partnership. Sangakkara brought up his half-century, but was dismissed for 73 with only 26 left, caught by Khan off Praveen Kumar. When only 3 runs were needed to win off 76 balls, Jayawardene was almost caught at point, and Thilina Kandamby was almost run out by the return throw. That was about as good as it got for the Indians, since Jayawardene swept the next delivery to the midwicket boundary. It brought up his 50 and won Sri Lanka the game with 75 balls to go.
So in the dress rehearsal battle, Sri Lanka take the honors and go into the final on a significant high. They never looked under pressure, even when Sharma and Dhoni threatened to take India to a competitive total. With Maharoof's hat-trick, Sri Lanka have a plethora of fast bowling options to choose from, with Lasith Malinga and Nuwan Kulasekera returning for the final after being rested for this match. India will be concerned that only two of their batsmen made any significant scores, and the bowling - which, barring the rested Harbhajan Singh and Ashish Nehra, is the same that will face Sri Lanka in the final - failed to make an impact. With such a convincing result as this one, Sri Lanka can consider themselves favorites for their third consecutive Asia Cup victory.