Sri Lanka have outclassed Pakistan with the bat, outsmarted them with the ball, and outdid the Green Shirts in the field in Dubai to win the Asia Cup for the sixth time.
Batting first, Sri Lanka lost a few quick wickets before Bhanuka Rajapaksa and Wanindu Hasaranga came to their team’s rescue.
It was the fourth Asia Cup final between Sri Lanka and Pakistan. In the last three, Sri Lanka won twice.
Chasing Sri Lanka’s 170, Pakistan were bowled out for 147.
Mohammad Rizwan and Iftekhar Ahmed tried their best, but the other batters failed to do enough. Rizwan hit 55 and Iftikhar 32. The other batter who reached a double-digit total was Haris Rauf. He made 13.
For Sri Lanka, Pramod Madushan, the right-arm pacer, took four wickets for 34 runs in four overs. Hasaranga picked up three and Chamika Karunaratne two.
Pakistan were never in a position to win the match after the first few overs of the match. They picked up some quick wickets, but Sri Lankan batting slowly crawled back to life after being temporarily frozen.
Earlier, Rajapaksa smashed an outstanding 71 off 45 balls to power Sri Lanka to 170 for six.
Put in to bat first, Sri Lanka lost five wickets in just 58 runs. Pakistan made a great start by sending three Sri Lankan batters back to the dressing room inside the powerplay.
Naseem Shah picked up Kusal Mendis in the first over. Kusal made a golden duck. Sri Lanka also lost Pathum Nissanka (8), Danushka Gunathilaka (1) and Dasun Shanaka (2) in quick succession.
Dhananjaya de Silva scored 28 to bring Sri Lanka back on track after the initial blow. Rajapaksa and Hasaranga scored 58-run on the sixth wicket.
Hasraranga fell prey to Haris Rauf for 36 off 21 balls. Chamika Karunaratne’s 14-run cameo also helped the Lankans put up a good total on board.
For Pakistan, Haris Rauf bagged three wickets conceding 29 runs while Naseem, Shadab Khan and Iftikhar took one wicket each.
