Pakistan captain Babar Azam won the toss and chose to bat first against Sri Lanka on Sunday, as they seek their third Asia Cup title. Naseem Shah and Shadab Khan were back to the team.
Shadab and Naseem replaced Usman Qadir and Hasan Ali, respectively, for Pakistan, while Sri Lanka selected an unchanged lineup from the previous game at the same location in Dubai. Winning the toss and bowling first benefited Pakistan, as Naseem clean bowled Kusal Mendis (0) with a devastating in-swinger early on. Haris Rauf added to the havoc with two wickets in the powerplay. He overpowered Pathum Nissanka (8) and went past Danushka Gunathilaka’s defense, who was dismissed for only one run.
Rauf nearly got his third wicket in his first two overs when the ball clipped Bhanuka Rajapaksa in the pads. Pakistan reviewed the LBW verdict, but the umpire’s call of not out remained owing to the impact. Cameras saw Shadab trying to lift the umpire’s finger while the two laughed. The incident’s video quickly went viral.
Dhananjaya de Silva (28) and skipper Dasun Shanaka (2) were bowled out by Iftikhar Ahmed and Shadab, respectively. After the first ten overs, the island country had reached 67/5. Sri Lanka won four consecutive chasing matches but they set a goal after losing the toss. Sri Lanka defeated Pakistan with a wonderful bowling and became the Asia Cup 2022 champion.
