Asia Cup 2022 Champion Sri Lanka: Sri Lanka beat Pakistan comprehensively in the final to lift the title
Asia Cup 2022 Champion Sri Lanka: The final of the Asia Cup 2022 saw Sri Lanka lock horns against Pakistan at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium in Dubai. A solid all-round performance saw the Lankan side beat Pakistan convincingly to lift the Asia Cup title.
Champion #SriLanka #AsiaCup2022Final pic.twitter.com/HZPRjCqcIQ
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Pakistan skipper Babar Azam won the toss and asked Sri Lanka to bat first. The Lankan side had a worst possible start to the final as they lost three wickets inside the powerplay with only 42 on the board. Dhananjaya de Silva along with Bhanuka Rajapaksa started the recovery work for Sri Lanka.
Silva was looking good but departed on 28. Dasun Shanaka departed on two and half of their side was back in the hut with 58 on the board. Wanindu Hasaranga walked in and played an outstanding cameo of 36 off just 21 balls. This innings shifted the momentum towards the Lankan side. Rajapaksa at the other end teed off and hit some lusty blows in the end to remain unbeaten to power his side to 170/6 at the end of their 20 overs. Haris Rauf picked up three wickets for Pakistan.
Sri Lanka have put down a solid score here. They will have to defend 170 runs!! Pakistan initial confidence were broken by these 2 players!
— CriiicWorld 🏆🏏 (@Criiicworld) September 11, 2022
Can the Lions defend it? #AsiaCupFinal2022 #SLvsPAK pic.twitter.com/vfJeCH7mUe
Chasing 171 in the final was always going to be a difficult task. Pakistan lost their skipper Babar in the fourth ball and Fakhar Zaman on the next ball. They got off to a steady start as they managed to score only 37 runs at the end of the powerplay. Ever-reliable Mohammad Rizwan looked good and was supported nicely from the other end by Iftikhar Ahmed.
The Lankan bowlers pulled back things in the middle overs and as a result, the required run rate kept climbing up. Ahmed departed on 32 in trying to up the ante. Rizwan tried hard and scored 55 but fell in the 17th over. It led to a collapse as the Lankan bowlers bowled brilliantly and knocked over Pakistan on 147 to win the game by 23 runs. Pramod Madushan and Wanindu Hasaranga picked up four and three wickets respectively to help their side lift the title.
Sri Lanka win their sixth Asia Cup
Sri Lanka showed great character in this edition of the Asia Cup. They were thrashed in their opening game by Afghanistan but bounced back brilliantly to remain unbeaten till the end of the tournament to lift the title. This is their first Asia Cup title after 2014 and are the deserved winners after the way they have performed in the tournament.
6th Title for Sri Lanka #AsiaCupFinal2022 pic.twitter.com/JC8ptGUTuw
— CriiicWorld 🏆🏏 (@Criiicworld) September 11, 2022
Pakistan, meanwhile, tried hard but the Lankan side proved to be too strong for them in the final. They had lost to the same opposition in their last super four game and failed to turn the tables around in the final as they missed out an opportunity to lift their third Asia Cup title.
Player of the Match
Bhanuka Rajapaksa grabbed the Player of the Match award for his brilliant knock of 71* off 45 balls.
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.
– Bhanuka Rajapaksa, Player of the Match
Player of the Series #AsiaCup2022 pic.twitter.com/otwbUppk1F
— CriiicWorld 🏆🏏 (@Criiicworld) September 11, 2022
Wanindu Hasaranga was named the Player of the Series
When I went to bat, we were 60/5 so we planned that if we can score over 150 that is a good total. And I said that I will play my own role, so that’s why I played my normal shots.
– Wanindu Hasaranga, Player of the Series
Want to congratulate Sri Lanka. Outstanding cricket. The way we dominated them early, their partnership after that was outstanding. The pitch was good, like the Dubai wicket, always fun to play here. As a batting unit we didn’t play according to our potential.
– Babar Azam, Pakistan Skipper
I must thank the crowd, they were supporting us massively. And also to the fans at home, hope we made them proud. These youngsters know conditions and situation really well. After losing five wickets, Hasaranga-Rajapaksa made the difference.
– Dasun Shanaka, Sri Lanka Skipper
Feel so good. Winning after seven years. One and a half years ago, we were nowhere. Now we are a different team with youngsters. I feel so good.
– Chamika Karunaratne
I was practicing and ready for any game. We were sticking in our plans well. We planned well against the teams. We had a good captain and coach too.
– Dhananjaya de Silva
Very happy to get the runs. Me and Pathum got partnerships in the last two matches. Were two-three wickets down. Very good partnership in the middle order.
– Kusal Mendis
Kusal set the tone at the top for us. Great thing is at any given point everybody’s put their hands up. Just had to get a method. Had confidence in the talent in the team.
– Chris Silverwood, Sri Lanka Coach
They played like true 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.
– Mohammad Rizwan
#AsiaCup2022 Leading Run Scorer @iMRizwanPak #SLvsPAK #Pakistan #SriLanka #viratkohli71stcentury pic.twitter.com/p5wp4wWijm
— CriiicWorld 🏆🏏 (@Criiicworld) September 11, 2022
Score Summary
Sri Lanka: 170/6 (20)
(Bhanuka Rajapaksa 71*, Wanindu Hasaranga 36, Haris Rauf 3/29)
Pakistan: 147 (20)
(Mohammad Rizwan 55, Iftikhar Ahmed 32, Pramod Madushan 4/34)
Sri Lanka beat Pakistan by 23 runs; Sri Lanka – The Asia Cup 2022 Champion!
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[…] Best XI of Asia Cup: The Asia Cup 2022 recently concluded and everyone would agree that it was the most exciting edition so far. Played in the shortest format, almost every game went down to the wire and fans witnessed exciting battles between bat and ball throughout the tournament. A total of six teams participated and Sri Lanka were crowned the winner after beating Pakistan in the final. […]