- Sri Lanka beat Pakistan by 23 runs to win the Asia Cup in Dubai.
- Hasaranga and Rajapaksa formed their most successful combination.
- Sri Lanka was unable to organize the tournament at home due to political and economic turmoil on the island.
Bhanuka Rajapaksa’s batting fireworks and Wanindu Hasaranga’s all-around brilliance helped Sri Lanka defeat Pakistan by 23 runs in the final on Sunday, winning the Asia Cup for the sixth time.
At the Dubai International Stadium, Rajapaksa slammed an unbeaten 71 to help Sri Lanka overcome a top order collapse and reach 170-6.
When they came back, Hasaranga had taken three wickets in a single over, and Pramod Madushan had a career-high 4-34 to bowl out Pakistan for 147 in precisely 20 overs.
When Sri Lanka was given the opportunity to bat, their top order quickly withered, leaving them at 58-5 in the ninth over.
With his third legal delivery of the day, Naseem Shah overcame an early wide by uprooting Kusal Mendis’ off-stump.
Pathum Nissanka and Danushka Gunathilaka were both out in consecutive overs by Haris Rauf, and Dhananjaya de Silva’s 28-run knock was ended by Iftikhar Ahmed’s brilliant return catch.
At the midway point of their innings, with Sri Lanka 67-5, Hasaranga (36) and Rajapaksa formed their most successful combination, scoring 58 runs off of just 36 balls.
Hasaranga was removed by Rauf (3-29) but Rajapaksa was still unbeaten after a fiery inning that featured three sixes and six fours.
His 45-ball blitz played a significant role in Sri Lanka’s 103 runs from the final 10 overs.
After they left, Madushan stunned Pakistan by taking two wickets in two deliveries.
Fakhar Zaman pulled the subsequent ball onto his stumps as Babar Azam was caught at short fine leg.
After the batsman teamed with Mohammad Rizwan (55) to restore their innings, Madushan returned to dismiss Iftikhar (32).
When Hasaranga dismissed the dangerous Rizwan, Asif Ali, and Khushdil Shah in the same over, Pakistan’s pursuit was severely halted.
The triumph would taste even better for Sri Lanka, which, despite maintaining the title of hosts, was unable to organize the tournament at home due to political and economic turmoil on the island.
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