Sri Lanka vs Pakistan ( SL vs PAK ) Asia Cup Final Highlights: Sri Lanka beat Pakistan by 23 runs in the Asia Cup final on Sunday. Sri Lanka posted 170/6 after being put in to bat. Bhanuka Rajapaksa top-scored for Sri Lanka with 71 not out 45 off balls. Haris Rauf was the standout bowler for Pakistan with three wickets. In response, Pakistan could only manage 147 all out in 20 overs.
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Babar Azam: Congratulations to Sri Lanka for playing outstanding cricket. We dominated them for the first eight overs, but the partnership that Rajapaska got was amazing. This was a true wicket and it is always nice playing in Dubai. We didn't bat according to our potential. We started well, but we gave away 15-20 extra runs and couldn't finish well. A lot of positives for us to take. In a final, the margin for mistakes is lesser. Our fielding wasn't up to the mark and the batting couldn't finish it off well. But Rizwan, Naseem and Nawaz were positives. Ups and downs will be there, but it would be nicer if we made lesser mistakes.
Wanindu Hasaranga: When I went out to bat at 60/5, Bhanuka and me planned to get to 150, which was a good total. I told him that I would play my role and play my shots. In the first few overs, the ball swung, but when I batted, the wicket was really good. I love to bowl in the subcontinent. I look to bowl at the stumps in these conditions and that is why I am successful. I try to bowl tight and bowl dot balls. Our boys did a great job throughout the tournament especially after our loss against Afghanistan.
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Bhanuka Rajapaksa: It was not easy out there. Pakistan were bowling well. When Wanindu came in, we got a plan. We wanted to be positive all through. When Iftikhar was bowling, Wanindu said that he would attack him. But thankfully both of us went har. I had to change my game because Pakistanis were on top. We wanted to spend some time in the crease and that helped in getting 170. When Chris (Silverwood) came out to talk to us after the 10th over, I told him that 140 was a good score. But we stayed till the end and the target was much different. The last ball six and the last over helped us with the momentum and this is a game of momentum.
Mohammad Rizwan: They played like tru champions, they deserve the win. They put us under pressure at key moments and won the match despite losing the toss. We committed mistakes and Sri Lanka took advantage of that. They took the momentum away from us towards the end in both the innings.
Mendis: Very very happy to get the runs. Me and Pathum got partnerships in last two matches. Were two-three wickets down. Very good partnership in the middle order.
Chamika Karunaratne: We are winning after 7 years, we are a different team. Full of youngsters, feeling very good. We were just going to fight and give it our best. The players were pushing their limits. Everyone tried their best after the loss in the first match (against Afghanistan).
This is the first time that Sri Lanka have won five consecutive T20Is since April 2014, the last such sequence included matches from their title-winning World Cup campaign in Bangladesh in 2014.
Asia Cup champions Sri Lanka will have to play against Namibia, Ireland and the Netherlands to qualify for the Super 12 stage of the T20 World Cup in Australia this year.
It's over for Pakistan, Sri Lanka are the winner of Asia Cup 2022. What a champion team!! Despite having an ordinary start, they end up winning the tournament. Right amidst a crisis, winning this tournament is a big thing for Sri Lanka.
Pramod Madushan scalps the wicket of Naseem Shah. Haris Rauf hits a boundary here. Mohammad Hasnain ends the over with a huge six. PAK 139/9 in 19 overs
M Theekshana picks the wicket of Shadab Khan and an easy catch by Gunathilaka does the rest. It's almost over for Pakistan now. PAK 120/8 in 18 overs
W 1 W 1 W 0 | Terrific over from Wanindu Hasaranga, who snares Khushdil and makes it three wickets in the over. Hasaranga sends Khushdil back to the pavillion for just 2 runs. Pakistan are falling apart here. PAK 112/7 in 17 overs
Asif Ali - the danger man is gone! Hasaranga strikes again!!!! This time rattles the stumps of Asif Ali for a duck.
Asif Ali vs Hasaranga in all T20s:
5 inngs
11 balls
6 runs
4 dismissals
Rizwan brings up his 50 with a monstrous strike. But then falls in the next over. Hasaranga leaps in delight. Pakistan have lost half their side. Is this the game now for SL?
'Everyone talks about the strike Rate in the T20 arena. How about Rizwan's strike rate? Run a ball in the final? I know they were 2 wickets down, he had to rebuild but that is unacceptable when the team needs 170. His career strike rate is 126,' points out Asif on social media.
Pramod Madushan is the catcher this time ! You can't keep him out of the game tonight. Sri Lanka are tightening the noose here. That was a cutter from Karunaratne which gets the better of the batter tonight. PAK: 102/4, need 69 off 28 balls
100 comes up for the men in green in 14.2 overs. At the end of the over, PAK 101/3 REQ Run rate is now: 14 per over | Pakistan need 70 runs in 30 balls
Remember: SL in first 10 overs - 67/5 | SL in last 10 overs - 103/1
Pramod Madushan brought back into the back, gets the breakthrough for the Lankans. The bowler outsmarted the batter by taking pace off the ball and that was a good catch by (sub) Ashen Bandara in the deep. PAK: 93/3 after 13.2 ovs
It is hot and humid in the middle and that is sapping the energy out of the players. Maheesh Theekshana is back into the attack. PAK 91/2 after 13 overs
Iftikhar starts the 12th over with a huge six!!!! Next ball, he goes downtown for four more. Hasaranga, who was so effective in the last match, looks out of sorts in this over. PAK 88/2 after 12 overs
Karunaratne in to bowl the 11th over and concedes just 3 runs from the 1st 4 balls. Another single. Good over thus far. Just 6 runs from this over. PAK 74/2 afer 11 overs
Had Theekshana collected this throw coming in from the deep cleanly, Ahmed could have been in some trouble despite him diving in full-length. PAK: 63/2 after 9 overs
Rizwan starts the over with a boundary against Karunaratne. He pulls it fine this time and gets the result. That was dragged back of a length and Rizwan flat-bats it through the square leg. Pak 53/2 after 8 overs.
Pramod Madushan bowls the last over of the powerplay. Just 5 runs off this over. Pak 37/2 after 6 overs.
Hasaranga vs Pakistan (before today)
4 mat
11 wkts
Avg 9.09
SR 8.7
ER 6.25
Best 3/21
His scores:
10(9) vs Ind
9(8) vs HK
14(10) vs Ind
0(1) vs Afg
30(29) vs SL
5(6) vs SL
Babar Azam's poor form continues as he walks back to the pavilion after scoring just 5 runs. Pramod Madushan picks his wicket. Huge blow for Pakistan. He takes another wicket of Fakhar Zaman. Two big wickets in this over. Pak 24/2 after 4 overs.
Rizwan with a classy drive now. He hits it against Madushanka and gets a boundary. It's a good length delivery and Rizwan times it to perfection. Pak 20/0 after 3 overs.
Rizwan and Babar Azam are in the middle. Madushanka will bowl the first over for Sri Lanka. Poor start from him as he bowls back-to-back wides. He concedes 12 runs. Pak 12/0 after 1 over.
Naseem Shah comes to bowl the last over for Pakistan. That's an unreal shot from Rajapaksa and he gets a six here and follows it up with a boundary. He also ends the over with a maximum. SL 170/6 after 20 overs
Two huge sixes from Sri Lankan batters against the Pakistan speedster Naseem Shah. Looks like they will easily get 150 from here. SL 136/6 after 17 overs
After conceding two boundaries, Haris Rauf takes the wicket of Hasaranga. Huge blow to Sri Lankans. Pakistan are dominating. SL 117/6 after 15 overs
Hasaranga is taking on Mohammad Hasnain as he hits a boundary. He follows it up with a huge six over backward point. This is fantastic batting!! SL 99/5 after 13 overs
This is an expensive over from Shadab Khan. Sri Lankan batters hit three boundaries in this over. That's great batting. SL 77/5 after 11 overs
Shadab Khan cleans up Shanaka. He completely miscues that delivery. Great bowling!! Sri Lanka are in trouble now. Hasaranga ends the over with a boundary. SL 62/5 after 9 overs
GONE!!! Iftikhar Ahmed gets a wicket now. Caught and bowled!!! That was travelling and good effort from Ahmed to keep hold of that. Dhananjaya has to depart. Sri Lanka in a fix. SL 53/4 after 7.4 overs
Rajapaksa in to replace Gunathilaka and what does he? Will give you 3 guesses!! A thick edge for a four but Rajapaksa won't complain. Is that an LBW? The umpire thinks no. Pakistan have gone upstairs. It brushes the wickets but stays not out. Umpire's call. Powerplay ends. SL 42/3 after 6 overs
BOWLED!!!! Haris Rauf strikes again!!!! Gunathilaka swings and Gunathilaka misses as the delivery cuts inside out and rattles his stumps. What a stroke of brilliance by the captain Babar azam to bring him back again!!! SL 36/3 after 5.1 overs
The penultimate over inside powerplay will be bowled by Hasnain. Dhananjaya quickly off the mark with a single in the first ball of the over. He comes back on strike and plays an exquisite shot for a four!! The Islanders are not holding back even after losing 2 quick wickets here. 8 from this over. SL 36/2 after 5 overs
Haris Rauf in to bowl the 4th and Rauf does what he does best. Picks a wicket!!! What an impact. A 146kph delivery which bambozles Nissanka who plays a skier and Babar Azam with the catch. SL 23/2 after 3.2 overs
Naseem Shah starts with the 3rd over and after starting with two dots, Nissanka opens his arms and plays a crunching cover drive for a four!!! 7 from this over. SL 23/1 after 3 overs
Dhananjaya times it to perfection against Mohammad Hasnain and gets a boundary. What a lovely shot!! This shot will give him some confidence. He hits another boundary. SL 16/1 after 2 overs.
Nissanka and Kusal Mendis are at the middle. Naseem Shah will bowl the first over for Pakistan and he strikes. He takes the wicket of Kusal Mendis. It's an inswing delivery and Mendis completely misses. SL 4/1 after 1 over.
Action to start soon, time for national anthems.
Dasun Shanaka: Would've bowled as well. But happy to bat as it's a final. Openers have stood up. Madushanka and Mahesh have been brilliant. Good sign for World Cup. Record has been good in this tournament. Same team.
Babar Azam: We'll bowl first. Looking forward to the match. Confidence level is high. We've played very well in this tournament. Every match we have new POTM. Shadab, Naseem back. Usman and Hasan out.
Sri Lanka (Playing XI): Pathum Nissanka, Kusal Mendis(w), Danushka Gunathilaka, Dhananjaya de Silva, Bhanuka Rajapaksa, Dasun Shanaka(c), Wanindu Hasaranga, Chamika Karunaratne, Pramod Madushan, Maheesh Theekshana, Dilshan Madushanka
Pakistan (Playing XI): Mohammad Rizwan(w), Babar Azam(c), Fakhar Zaman, Iftikhar Ahmed, Khushdil Shah, Mohammad Nawaz, Shadab Khan, Asif Ali, Haris Rauf, Naseem Shah, Mohammad Hasnain
It was not the dream final. But the enthusiasm of the crowd was undiminished. Even at 3.00 pm, three hours before the game, the sand-blanched streets and pathways leading to the stadium was filled. Braving the searing sun, the mercury had hugged 40s, they belted out popular songs, danced and heaved on the streets, often together. Sri Lanka fans would dance to Bollywood songs, just as their Pakistan supporters would tap steps to Sinhalese chartbusters, accompanied by the thudding percussion. Even at 4 pm, more than half the stands were filled, with the audience cheering the cricketers going through the warm-ups.
-Sandip G
Pakistan win the toss and opt to bowl first.
"This pitch has never been used before. Looks really good pitch. For batting and for bowling. With the new ball, it might swing one or two overs tops. But this pitch is one of the best in this Asia Cup. These pitches have been the best in the world": Sanjay Manjrekar and Wasim Akram
Rain? No, we don’t do that in Dubai this time of the year. The forecast predicts yet another warm and dry day.
Sri Lanka have played brilliantly in the Asia Cup 2022.
Pakistan’s strength is their bowling attack with Naseem Shah, showing improvement with each passing day, along with Harris Rauf and Mohammed Hasnain. The youngster was rested in their last match will replace veteran Hasan Ali in the playing XI.
It’s the most harmonious of cricketing rivalries in the subcontinent, unstained by geopolitical tensions or cultural antagonism. Pakistan-India match-ups might be devoid of the old hostility, but it is still an intense rivalry with deep nationalistic undertones, so much so that another bilateral series between them is a distant possibility. Pakistan-Afghanistan encounters could be crudely bitter affairs, as was witnessed in Headingley and Sharjah. (READ OUR PREVIEW HERE)
Sri Lanka and Pakistan have met in three Asia Cup finals. Sri Lanka defeated Pakistan in 1986 and 2014 while the latter emerged victorious in 2000. This will be Sri Lanka’s 11th Asia Cup final – the most for a team.
This edition of the Asia Cup has seen a lot of high scoring match ups with India's demolition of Afghanistan bowlers to post 212 on top of the pile, followed by Pakisatan's 192 vs Hong Kong. Are we in for fireworks tonight as well?
In te last encounter against Sri Lanka, Pakistan made a few changes in their playing XI by resting Shadab Khan and Naseem Shah. The duo are set to replace Hasan Ali and Usman Qadir in the playing XI.
Sri Lanka Predicted Playing XI: Kusal Mendis (wk), Pathum Nissanka, Dhananjaya de Silva, Danushka Gunathilaka, Dasun Shanaka (c), Bhanuka Rajapaksa, Chamika Karunaratne, Wanindu Hasaranga, Maheesh Theekshana, Pramod Madushan, Dilshan Madushanka
Pakistan Predicted Playing XI: Babar Azam (c), Mohammad Rizwan, Fakhar Zaman, Iftikhar Ahmed, Khushdil Shah, Shadab Khan, Asif Ali, Mohammad Nawaz, Naseem Shah, Haris Rauf, Mohammad Hasnain