‘Sri Lanka deserves Asia Cup’- Twitter in awe of Sri Lanka as they beat Pakistan by five wickets in the last match of Super 4s in Asia Cup

The final match of the Super 4s stage in the Asia Cup 2022 got underway between Sri Lanka and Pakistan at Dubai. The match didn’t have any significance other than being a practice game for both teams before the final on Sunday.  Sri Lankan captain Dasun Shanaka won the toss and, as has been the tradition, decided to field first.

The Pakistan opening duo of Mohammad Rizwan and Babar Azam walked out to bat. They got their team off to a decent start, adding 28 runs in 3.3 overs. In form batter, Rizwan, however, was dismissed early by Pramod Madushan, who got him out caught for 14.

Captain Babar Azam decided to take his time early on and get settled at the crease. However, his stay didn’t last long as he was clean bowled by Wanindu Hasaranga after scoring 30 off 29 balls. The Sri Lankan bowlers were at their absolute best, picking up wickets regularly.

No batter was allowed to settle down as the spinners Wanindu Hasaranga and Maheesh Theekshana were successful in deceiving the Pakistan batting lineup. A cameo of 26 off 18 balls by Mohammad Nawaz in the final overs took Pakistan to 121.

The Sri Lankan chase got off to a miserable start as they lost Kusal Mendis and Danushka Gunathilaka in the first two overs. They further lost Dhananjaya De Silva and were left reeling at 29/3 after five overs.  A 51-run-partnership between Pathum Nissanka and Bhanuka Rajapaksa for the fourth wicket calmed the nerves in the Sri Lankan dressing room.

Nissanka was seen at his usual best as he once again played a responsible knock in the chase. He brought up his half-century with 20 runs more needed to win. Dasun Shanaka came in and took the team closer to victory with his decent knock of 21 off 16 balls.  Wanindu Hasaranga got Sri Lanka over the line by scoring 10 off just three balls. As a result, Sri Lanka registered a win by five wickets. The two teams will again meet in the final of the Asia Cup on Sunday.

Here’s how Twitter reacted to Sri Lanka’s dominating victory: