Sri Lanka thrash Pakistan by 23 runs to clinch sixth Asia Cup title

Sri Lanka thrash Pakistan to lay claim to the mantle of Asia Cup champions. The win marked the sixth time the Sri Lankans have raised the coveted Asia Cup trophy over their heads. This is their first win since 2014. This is Sri Lanka's first Asia Cup title in the T20 format. Pakistan's tally of runs was bolstered by Sri Lanka's Dilshan Madushanka as he offered the Men in Green a 10-run lead at the start of the innings. The Sri Lankans maintained an air-tight defence against Pakistan, offering them no room to breathe. Sri Lanka's fielding proved to be too big a challenge for The Shaheens as their batting order found it exceedingly hard to put the ball across the boundary.

After asking Sri Lanka to bat first, Pakistan made a blistering start as Naseem Shah dismissed the in-form Kusal Mendis in the first over of the match, but Rajapaksa, along with Dhananjaya de Silva (28) and Wanindu Hasaranga (36) made efficient contributions to take the Lankans to a strong score in Dubai. captain Babar Azam failed again as he was dismissed on 5 off 6 balls, and even as Mohammad Rizwan (55) forged a 71-run stand with Iftikhar Ahmed (32), the men in green failed to build on the same as no player from positions 5-11 barring Haris Rauf (13) could cross double figures.

Hasaranga shined with the ball too, as he picked three wickets while conceding 27 runs in his four overs; however, Pramod Madushan, who had made his T20I debut in only Sri Lanka's previous game against the same opponents in the Asia Cup, took four wickets including that of Babar Azam to become the leading wicket-taker in the Lankan lineup