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    End of innings

    That was not the finish India wanted. They didn't hit a boundary after the third ball of the final over, and Kohli faced just 8 deliveries in the final four overs. The Sri Lankans couldn't get past Kohli, but they appeared to put their gameplan into effect to weather his charge and get the better of his less talented team-mates. That said, one can't judge a batting effort until both sides have had a go. This isn't an easy pitch to bat on, and it took time for Kohli to get going. If India's bowlers stick to their disciplines, we've still got a good game on.

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    Over 20 - Ind 130/4 (Dhoni 4)

    What a tremendous comeback Sri Lanka have made in this innings. Malinga is virtually unhittable in his final over, firing delivery after delivery down on a perfect yorker length. Dhoni swings over the top of a couple, but finally manages to get some runs and then puts Kohli on strike. But even the in-form batsman can do nothing with the last ball yorker but dig it out to leg, and he's run out from the final delivery after taking on the fielder.

  • Over 19 - Ind 123/3 (Kohli 76, Dhoni 1)

    WICKET! Yuvraj's torturous innings finally comes to an end. I daresay India will be even happier at the dismissal than the Sri Lankans are, such were his struggles at the crease. Kulasekara hurled down a gentle full toss at him, and a more fluid batsman might have crashed this almost anywhere ... but Yuvraj can only tap it tamely to the fielder at long-off. Kulasekara follows the wicket up with a frugal over, and India are staring at a sub-par total despite Kohli's efforts.

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    Over 18 - Ind 119/2 (Kohli 74, Yuvraj 11)

    Fantastic death bowling from Malinga, as you'd expect from a man with oodles of Twenty20 experience. He targets the full, wide yorker for both left- and right-hander, and neither Yuvraj nor Kohli can get underneath the ball or ping the boundary. Indeed, Yuvi is still struggling horribly with his timing, and together the batsmen can only wrangle four singles from the over.

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    Over 17 - Ind 117/2 (Kohli 72, Yuvraj 9)

    Yet again Senanayake puts in a superb effort with the ball, but is it enough to make up for his lapse in the field? His task with the ball is made easier by Yuvraj's scratchiness - this is a very difficult pitch upon which to gain batting rhythm early on in one's innings, and in this over Yuvraj can barely get the ball off the square. Kohli's blazing knock will carry India to a good total here, but they need batsmen firing at both ends.

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    Over 16 - Ind 111/2 (Kohli 70, Yuvraj 7)

    Kohli on the charge! He is throwing the bat at absolutely everything, Kulasekara the bowler to bear the brunt. The carnage starts early, Kohli letting his bottom hand take over as he smears the first ball over wide long-on for six. He follows that up with a searing drive through extra cover, and is then helped by some shoddy fielding by Senanayake at deep midwicket. Kohli went back to a slow offcutter and hoicked the ball in the air ... but Senanayake had come in much too far from his position on the boundary, and the ball flew over his hands, but still bounced inside the rope! That is very poor judgement. Sri Lanka have let Kohli off the hook yet again.

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    Over 15 - Ind 95/2 (Kohli 55, Yuvraj 6)

    A good comeback over from Senanayake, and Sri Lanka will be pleased with his efforts. The batsmen are in accumulation mode, but it still takes great skill to keep the likes of Kohli and Yuvraj to just two singles. The platform has been set though, and I expect that the launch will come sooner rather than later. India will be looking for 160, at least. Kohli's strike rate at the death hovers around 179.

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    Over 14 - Ind 93/2 (Kohli 54, Yuvraj 5)

    Fifty for Kohli! This man is a run machine. He's got to be in line for the Man of the Tournament award. He doesn't try anything too extravagant in this over and neither does Yuvraj, who is yet to settle, but they still manage to add another 10 runs to the total. After a couple of hard-run ones and twos, Kohli angles his bat on a full, wide yorker to send the ball bouncing down to the third man fence. Great placement! I wonder if that dropped catch is still on Malinga's mind?

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    Over 13 - Ind 83/2 (Kohli 46, Yuvraj 3)

    Kohli goes on the attack early in Herath's final over! He's timing the ball superbly now, having grown accustomed to the spongy pitch. He leaps out at the first delivery of the over, slicing the ball back over the bowler's head for a flat, hard six. Having done the hard work early on, he and Yuvraj focus on collecting singles for the remainder of the over, 10 runs being added to the score.

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    Over 12 - Ind 73/2 (Kohli 38, Yuvraj 2)

    Senanayake returns to the attack, and unusually goes over the wicket to the right-handed Kohli. With that angle of attack, the offspinner has got to lob the ball up outside off stump, but there isn't a lot of turn and Kohli is quickly into the drive. After chipping a couple of runs over the bowler's head, he comes down the track to lace a drive up and over extra cover, before pinching a single to keep the strike. He looks in ominous touch.

  • Over 11 - Ind 65/2 (Kohli 31, Yuvraj 1)

    WICKET! No mistake in the field this time, but Sharma is the batsman to depart. Herath looped the ball up invitingly on off stump, and Sharma again made room to open up the angle to drive. But he couldn't quite keep the stroke down, and Senanayake tumbled forward at a short cover position to effect the dismissal. Herath buzzes quickly through the rest of the over, having conceded just a single run. The bowlers have dominated the first half of this innings, though they haven't been rewarded with a stack of wickets.

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    Over 10 - Ind 64/1 (Kohli 31, Sharma 29)

    Mathews completes his fourth and final over, on the trot, but this one is the worst of the lot. The medium pacer had grown just a little too predictable in the course of the three previous overs, and Sharma is confident enough to make room outside leg stump and slot a powerful drive through the covers for four. But he's bettered by Kohli, who spots a slower ball well in advance of its arrival and bends down low to nail a slog sweep over wide long on. This partnership is already worth 60, and it's starting to gain momentum now.

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    Over 9 - Ind 50/1 (Sharma 23, Kohli 23)

    Herath trundles through a second over, and though he doesn't manage to create any chances in this one it's another good one. He comes round the wicket to the right-handers, getting some loop and dip on the ball - but no great turn. A modest three runs are the result.

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    Over 8 - Ind 47/1 (Sharma 23, Kohli 21)

    Angelo Mathews completes his third over, and he's still finding these conditions very much to his liking. He doesn't try anything too fancy, just settling into a probing line and length, and subtly varying his pace. There's another moment of alarm for India when Sharma top-edges a flat-batted heave, but the ball falls safely in no-man's land behind the Umpire and they run two. This still looks like the sort of pitch that requires some graft from the batsmen, but Kohli and Sharma both have plenty of gears to go through ...

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    Over 7 - Ind 41/1 (Sharma 19, Kohli 19)

    Kohli has been dropped! How expensive could this error turn out to be? Rangana Herath was wheeled out to bowl some left-arm spin in this over, and Kohli stepped back to pull his first delivery in the air towards mid-on ... where Malinga himself let the chance get past him. The ball was hit hard, but that could have been caught. As if to enforce the costly mistake, Kohli steps out to lift the final ball leisurely over extra cover for six. The shot oozes finesse and class.

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    Over 6 - Ind 31/1 (Sharma 17, Kohli 11)

    Ah, Sri Lanka's captain today - Lasith Malinga - brings himself on, and as he sets his radar with a series of length deliveries, the batsmen concentrate on collecting singles behind square on either side of the wicket. Malinga's final delivery is pitched right up to Sharma, but it's not quite a yorker and it's dismissed from the batsman's presence with a powerful blow down the ground. Sharma just stood at the crease and swiped through the line. Not graceful, but effective!

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    Over 5 - Ind 23/1 (Kohli 9, Sharma 11)

    Spin is used for the first time today, offie Senanayake coming around the wicket to the right-handed batsmen. His second delivery is a quicker one, but slips out as a rank long-hop and Sharma steps back to crack a lofted pull over deep square leg, the ball bouncing just short of the rope. There is, indeed, some turn on offer for the bowler, and he comes back well after the bad ball. Sri Lanka almost have their second wicket when Rohit backed up too far at the non-striker's end and Malinga rocketed a throw from square leg, but the ball zings past the stumps and strikes Senanayake a stinging blow on the arm instead.

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    Over 4 - Ind 15/1 (Kohli 8, Sharma 4)

    Mathews continues, his medium-paced offerings proving very useful in the soggy conditions. With Sangakkara up to the stumps, he generally aims just outside the off peg, with singles coming between point and third man. I wonder if this tacky surface will take spin?

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    Over 3 - Ind 11/1 (Kohli 6, Sharma 2)

    Kohli is immediately into his stride with a minimalist clip to leg that sends the ball racing to the deep midwicket off the middle of the bat. But Kulasekara is not without his own skills, and after swinging the first two deliveries in he gets the third to hold its line outside off, beating the edge of Kohli's bat. Kula is also backed up by his fielders in the over, Herath diving to stop a certain boundary at short fine leg. This has been a muted start from India.

  • Over 2 - Ind 5/1 (Sharma 1, Kohli 1)

    WICKET! It only takes a couple of deliveries for Sangakkara to come up to the stumps for Mathews, who is shaping the ball gently through the air and off the track. The move keeps Rahane pinned to his crease, and he attempts to manufacture a pull shot to a ball that wasn't quite short enough - or, at least, didn't get up as high as he'd thought - and the bottom edge shatters his stumps. After having a good look at his first two deliveries, Kohli is off the mark with a gentle nudge to leg from the third. He's in early today, and if he bats long India should reach a hefty total despite the conditions.

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    Over 1 - Ind 4/0 (Rahane 3, Sharma 1)

    Nuwan Kulasekara opens the bowling for Sri Lanka, snaking the ball in through the air to the right handed Rohit Sharma. He's got a wide slip in place, but the fielder isn't needed and it soon becomes apparent that this pitch is going to play slow and low. Rahane seems eager to get his feet moving and use the crease, walking out at Kulasekara before going deep in his crease and shuffling to off to work the ball through square leg. Watchful stuff from both sides.

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    Sri Lanka

    The Sri Lankans have made just one change, swapping leggie Seekkuge Prasanna for big-hitting allrounder Thisara Perera. Here's their XI: 1. MDKJ Perera, 2. TM Dilshan, 3. DPMD Jayawardene, 4. KC Sangakkara (wk), 5. AD Mathews, 6. HDRL Thirimanne, 7. NLTC Perera, 8. KMDN Kulasekara, 9. SMSM Senanayake, 10. HMRKB Herath, 11. SL Malinga (c).

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    India

    India's playing XI is unchanged, and remains as follows: 1. RG Sharma, 2. Yuvraj Singh, 3. SK Raina, 4. V Kohli, 5. AM Rahane, 6. MS Dhoni (c/wk), 7. R Ashwin, 8. RA Jadeja, 9. A Mishra, 10. B Kumar, 11. MM Sharma.

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    Toss

    Sri Lanka have won the toss, and they will bowl first. Their decision would always be a tricky one with rain about, but we've not actually lost any overs to the rain yet. It's just possible that they're also looking to stop Virat Kohli from batting second. As he's shown numerous times, there are few better chasers in World cricket. In fact, there might only be one: Indian captain MS Dhoni.

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    Toss coming up ... kind of

    We've just heard that the toss is coming up in 25 minutes, with play half an hour after that. There are four super-soppers working the outfield as well, so hopefully we won't have any further delays.

  • Covers off

    Some good news! The covers are coming off, though the toss has been delayed. The wind has also picked up. Perhaps it will blow the rainclouds away?

  • Weather

    It's a bit rainy right now, with the covers on, and it's just a few minutes from the scheduled toss. If the game is rained off, there is a reserve day tomorrow. Hopefully that won't be needed though.

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    Greetings!

    Hello and welcome to our commentary of the World T20 final, where India and Sri Lanka, pre-tournament favourites both, will compete. Here's hoping the rain, which has already made an appearance in Dhaka, stays away.