Asia Cup 2022, Final: 10 Best memes from PAK vs SL game
Bhanuka Rajapaksa was excellent with the bat as he scored 71* off just 45.
Sri Lanka surprised everyone as they won the 2022 Asia Cup after thrashing Pakistan in the final match of the tournament played at the Dubai International Stadium on September 11 (Sunday).
Speaking about the match, Pakistan skipper Babar Azam won the toss and had no hesitation in bowling first. The Men in Green had the perfect start as they got the big wicket of opener Kusal Mendis within the first over of the match. His partner Pathum Nissanka also looked scratchy for his eight runs as he was scalped by express pacer Haris Rauf within the field restrictions.
Sri Lanka were in deep trouble as they lost their third wicket inside the powerplay overs with the batter Danushka Gunathilaka getting cleaned up by Rauf in the sixth over of the match. Senior batter Dhananjaya de Silva contributed with a 28 but skipper Dasun Shanaka failed, scoring just two runs. Despite so much chaos around him, batter Bhanuka Rajapaksa went on with his business as the left-handed batter smashed an unbeaten 71 off 45 balls, hitting six fours and three maximums in his innings.
Some late blitz from batter Wanindu Hasaranga and all-rounder Chamika Karunaratne ensured that the batting team reached the 170-run mark in their allotted 20 overs. For Pakistan, Rauf was the pick of the bowlers, scalping three wickets while Shadab Khan, Iftikhar Ahmed, and Naseem Shah scalped one wicket each.
A disciplined Sri Lanka bowling line-up came on top against Pakistan batters
Chasing 171, Pakistani openers Mohammad Rizwan and skipper Babar Azam tried to give a stable start to their team as they reached the start of the fourth over without losing any wickets. However, pacer Pramod Madushan gave two back-to-back major blows to the Men in Green as he scalped the wickets of Babar and senior batter Fakhar Zaman on successive deliveries.
Rizwan and Iftikhar Ahmed then stabilized Pakistan's innings as they both stitched a 71-run partnership, but a disciplined bowling performance by Sri Lanka ensured that the required run rate kept mounting. Madushan came back to the attack and took the wicket of Ahmed.
Rizwan also got out soon as Hasaranga got the better of him. Apart from Rizwan and Ahmed, all of the Pakistani batters looked clueless at the crease as Sri Lanka clinched the prized trophy after winning the match by 23 runs.
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