Asia Cup 2023 ended with an outrange final. Six teams made it to the main stage of this year's Asia Cup. India, Pakistan, and Nepal were in Group A and Bangladesh, Afghanistan, and Sri Lanka were in Group B. Initially, the Asia Cup was supposed to be held in Pakistan, but most of the matches were held in Sri Lanka due to political troubles. From Group A, India and Pakistan easily qualified for the Super Four, but after a great fight from Group B, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka made it to the Super Four. Afghanistan and Nepal were eliminated from the group stage.
As in the group stages, the Super Four matches also witnessed several dramatic matches for the fans. The most exciting match in the Super Four was between India and Pakistan. However, Virat Kohli's India won by dominating the rain-interrupted match. On the other hand, Bangladesh was eliminated from the super four after losing the first two matches. However, Bangladesh under the leadership of Shakib Al Hasan ended well by defeating India by six runs in the last match.
Many thought that maybe this time Pakistan would play the final of the Asia Cup. Because in terms of quality and strength of the team, they are no less than India. But they lost against Sri Lanka after India. As a result, the fans didn't get a chance to watch the India-Pakistan final. Sri Lanka beat Bangladesh and Pakistan to reach the finals of the Asia Cup. On the other hand, India became the first team to secure their place in the final by defeating Sri Lanka and Pakistan.
India and Sri Lanka met yesterday in the Megha final of the Asia Cup. The match was held at the Premadasa Stadium in Colombo, Sri Lanka. India and Sri Lanka's performances were excellent throughout the tournament. So fans were hoping for a good fight. However, Sri Lanka failed to fulfill that hope. On the contrary, the Dasun Shanaka-led Sri Lankan team made several embarrassing records.
Sri Lanka captain Dasun Shanaka won the toss and decided to bat in the match between India and Sri Lanka. Kushal Perera and Pathum Nissanka are opening for Sri Lanka in this match. But they failed to reciprocate the team's trust. Jusprit Bumra got the wicket of Kushal Perera in his first over. Later Indian bowler Mohammad Siraj picked up a record four wickets in his second over. Sri Lanka lost the first six wickets for 12 runs.
Such a batting failure of the team at one time seemed that they would not be able to cross 30 runs. But in the end, Sri Lanka were all out for 50 runs. The average is a record shy of the lowest run average in Asia Cup history. Kushal Mendis played the highest innings of 17 runs for the team. Siraj picked up a career-best six wickets for India. Besides, Hardik Pandya took three wickets and Bumrah took one.
Batting for India, Shubman Gill, and Ishan Kishan reached the target in just six overs. As a result, India got a huge victory by ten wickets. In this victory, the Indian team made several records. India now holds the record for winning the final with the highest number of balls margin. As well as the third team, India won by a margin of 10 wickets in the final!
