Dubai, United Arab Emirates –
Sri Lanka’s inexperienced cricket team overcame a poor start with bat and ball to put on an impressive all-around show on Sunday and lift the Asia Cup for the sixth time in a 23-run win over Pakistan.
Bhanuka Rajapaksa hit an unbeaten 71 from 45 balls in Dubai and led Sri Lanka as they rebounded from 58-5 to go 170-6 in the final after Pakistan won the draw and decided the field.
Pakistan plummeted to 147 with the final balls as their top order continued to struggle against the pace, with fast bowler Pramod Madushan winning 4-34 in only his second T20 international.
Leg spinner Wanindu Hasaranga then stunned the lower order with his sharp Googlies to hasten Pakistan’s collapse.
Hasaranga, who previously scored 36 balls from 21, caught Pakistan’s top scorer Mohammad Rizwan (55) in depth in his last over before winning wickets from Asif Ali and Khushdil Shah in the same over to finish 3-27.
“It was all about nerves, I knew the youngsters could always deliver,” said Sri Lankan skipper Dasun Shanaka. “We have players of good caliber and they have performed well.”
Sri Lanka got off to a terrible start in bowling as fast left-arm bowler Dilshan Madushanka conceded nine runs through a no ball and several wides before the 21-year-old scored the first legitimate throw on the sixth try.
Madushan, who made his T20 debut in Friday’s final Super 4 game against Pakistan, quickly calmed his side by claiming the wickets of Babar Azam (5) and Fakhar Azam (0) after back-to-back deliveries on the power play.
Babar was brilliantly snapped over his head by Madushanka with a short fine leg from a hard punch and Fakhar wanted a golden duck by pulling the first ball onto his stumps.
Babar, the second-place T20 batter, finished the tournament with just 68 runs in six games.
“As a drummer, we haven’t lived up to our potential,” said Babar. “We didn’t finish as we would have liked and wasted 15-20 extra runs, the more you learn from those ups and downs is good but you have to cut back on your mistakes.”
Rizwan and Iftikhar Ahmed (32) added 71 runs for the third wicket in almost 10 overs, while Sri Lanka continued to up the pressure with decent bowling in the middle overs.
Madushan broke the stand on his return as Pakistan collapsed from 102-3, losing their last seven wickets for 45 runs, with the Sri Lanka fielders keeping all their catches.
Earlier, Pakistan’s fearsome attack of pace, led by Haris Rauf (3-29), had troubled Sri Lanka in the first nine overs before Rajapaksa and Hasaranga led the rebound.
Rajapaksa hit six fours and three sixes in his innings.
Fast bowler Naseem Shah (1-40) rolled the first ball cleanly for Kusal Mendis with a stunning inside swing while Rauf Pathum sent off Nissanka and Danushka Gunathilaka.
But Rajapaksa and Hasaranga countered after negotiating Shadab Khan’s turning threat (1-28). Surprisingly, Babar only used his superb left-arm spinner Mohammad Nawaz for a three-run over as both Sri Lankan batters went against the pace of Shah and Mohammad Hasnain (0-41).
Pakistan was rough on the field as Rajapaksa was thrown deep by Shadab on either side of his half-century. Rauf had caught Hasaranga in the 15th over but Rajapaksa added another 54 runs in the last five overs with Chamika Karunaratne not making 14.
Rajapaksa provided a late Sri Lankan upswing when he smashed Shah for a boundary on the penultimate ball and then smashed a six via extra coverage to give Sri Lanka a strong defense.
Sri Lanka made an impressive comeback with five straight tournament victories after being beaten by Afghanistan in the opening game. Sri Lanka also defeated Pakistan in the last Super 4 game.