Sri Lanka Defeated Pakistan in the Final of the Asia Cup 2022 by 23 runs. Bhanuka Rajapaksa was the Player of the Match for his 45-ball 71*.
Wanindu Hasaranga’s all-around performance helps Sri Lanka to win the final match. He won the Player of the series award.
Sri Lanka won the Asia Cup Title for the 6th time. Out of four occasions, they defeated Pakistan 3rd time in the Asia Cup Final.
Exceptional Performance from Rajapaksa & Hasaranga
The Lankan start was not good. After the 9 overs, Sri Lanka was 5 down for 58 runs. Then Rajapaksa & Hasaranga made a quick partnership of 58 runs.
Rajapaksa also made a good partnership with Chamika Karunaratne of 54 runs. Those two partnerships put Sri Lanka far ahead of Pakistan in the final match.
Haris Rauf was the pick of the bowler from Pakistan who took 3 wickets.
Babar & Fakhar’s failure continues
In the chase, Babar & Fakhar fell early and left Pakistan for 22/2 after 4 overs. Rizwan and Iftikhar made a run-a-ball partnership of 71 runs but that cost the match to Pakistan.
Because the following batsmen couldn’t capitalize on this partnership and remained under scoreboard pressure. Pakistan’s middle and lower middle order failed at the crucial stage of the match.
From Sri Lanka, Pramod Madushan took 4 wickets and the star spinner Hasaranga took 3 wickets.
Toss
Early on Pakistan won the toss and decided to bowl first.
Naseem Shah and Shadab Khan come in for Hassan Ali and Usman Qadir. No Change for Sri Lanka.
Teams
Pakistan: Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Babar Azam (capt), Fakhar Zaman, Iftikhar Ahmed, Khushdil Shah, Shadab Khan, Asif Ali, Mohammad Nawaz, Haris Rauf, Mohammad Hasnain, Naseem Shah
Sri Lanka: Kusal Mendis (wk), Pathum Nissanka, Dhananjaya de Silva, Danushka Gunathilaka, Dasun Shanaka (capt), Bhanuka Rajapaksa, Chamika Karunaratne, Wanindu Hasaranga, Maheesh Theekshana, Pramod Madushan, Dilshan Madushanka
Scorecard
Sri Lanka Innings
| BATTING | R | B | 4s | 6s | SR | |
| Pathum Nissanka | c Babar Azam b Haris Rauf | 8 | 11 | 1 | 0 | 72.72 |
| Kusal Mendis † | b Naseem Shah | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Dhananjaya de Silva | c & b Iftikhar Ahmed | 28 | 21 | 4 | 0 | 133.33 |
| Danushka Gunathilaka | b Haris Rauf | 1 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 25 |
| Bhanuka Rajapaksa | not out | 71 | 45 | 6 | 3 | 157.77 |
| Dasun Shanaka (c) | b Shadab Khan | 2 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 66.66 |
| Wanindu Hasaranga de Silva | c †Mohammad Rizwan b Haris Rauf | 36 | 21 | 5 | 1 | 171.42 |
| Chamika Karunaratne | not out | 14 | 14 | 0 | 1 | 100 |
| Ravi Bishnoi | not out | 8 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 400 |
| Extras | (b 1, lb 7, w 2) | 10 |
| TOTAL | 20 Overs(RR: 8.50) | 170/6 |
Did not bat: Maheesh Theekshana, Pramod Madushan, Dilshan Madushanka
Fall of wickets: 1-2 (Kusal Mendis, 0.3 Overs), 2-23 (Pathum Nissanka, 3.2 Overs), 3-36 (Danushka Gunathilaka, 5.1 Overs), 4-53 (Dhananjaya de Silva, 7.4 Overs), 5-58 (Dasun Shanaka, 8.5 Overs), 6-116 (Wanindu Hasaranga de Silva, 14.5 Overs)
Pakistan Bowling
| BOWLING | O | M | R | W | ECON |
| Naseem Shah | 4 | 0 | 40 | 1 | 10 |
| Mohammad Hasnain | 4 | 0 | 41 | 0 | 10.25 |
| Haris Rauf | 4 | 0 | 29 | 3 | 7.25 |
| Shadab Khan | 4 | 0 | 28 | 1 | 7 |
| Iftikhar Ahmed | 3 | 0 | 21 | 1 | 7 |
| Mohammad Nawaz | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 3 |
Pakistan Innings (Target: 171 runs from 20 overs)
| BATTING | R | B | 4s | 6s | SR | |
| Mohammad Rizwan † | c Gunathilaka b PWH de Silva | 55 | 49 | 4 | 1 | 112.24 |
| Babar Azam (c) | c Madushanka b Liyanagamage | 5 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 83.33 |
| Fakhar Zaman | b Liyanagamage | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Iftikhar Ahmed | c sub (KNA Bandara) b Liyanagamage | 32 | 31 | 2 | 1 | 103.22 |
| Mohammad Nawaz | c Liyanagamage b Karunaratne | 6 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 66.66 |
| Khushdil Shah | c Theekshana b PWH de Silva | 2 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 50 |
| Asif Ali | b PWH de Silva | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Shadab Khan | c Gunathilaka b Theekshana | 8 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 133.33 |
| Haris Rauf | b Karunaratne | 13 | 9 | 1 | 1 | 144.44 |
| Naseem Shah | c Karunaratne b Liyanagamage | 4 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 200 |
| Mohammad Hasnain | not out | 8 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 200 |
| Extras | (nb 2, w 12) | 14 |
| TOTAL | 20 Overs (RR: 7.35) | 147 |
Fall of wickets: 1-22 (Babar Azam, 3.2 Overs), 2-22 (Fakhar Zaman, 3.3 Overs), 3-93 (Iftikhar Ahmed, 13.2 Overs), 4-102 (Mohammad Nawaz, 15.2 Overs), 5-110 (Mohammad Rizwan, 16.1 Overs), 6-111 (Asif Ali, 16.3 Overs), 7-112 (Khushdil Shah, 16.5 Overs), 8-120 (Shadab Khan, 17.6 Overs), 9-125 (Naseem Shah, 18.2 Overs), 10-147 (Haris Rauf, 19.6 Overs)
Sri Lanka Bowling
| BOWLING | O | M | R | W | ECON |
| Dilshan Madushanka | 3 | 0 | 24 | 0 | 8 |
| Maheesh Theekshana | 4 | 0 | 25 | 1 | 6.25 |
| Pramod Madushan | 4 | 0 | 34 | 4 | 8.5 |
| Wanindu Hasaranga de Silva | 4 | 0 | 27 | 3 | 6.75 |
| Chamika Karunaratne | 4 | 0 | 33 | 2 | 8.25 |
| Dhananjaya de Silva | 1 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 4 |
Full Scorecard
