Dasun Shanaka-led Sri Lanka impressed one and all as the side went on to defeat Pakistan by 23 runs in the final to win the Asia Cup for the sixth time. In the final, Sri Lanka were up against it at 58/5 batting first, but Bhanuka Rajapaksa's unbeaten 71-run knock helped Sri Lanka post 170/6 in 20 overs and then Pramod Madushan's four-wicket haul bundled out Pakistan for 147 and as a result, Sri Lanka won the match by 23 runs.
It is important to note that Sri Lanka do not have a direct qualification for the upcoming T20 World Cup, and they need to play the qualifiers first in order to seal a qualification for the group stage. Former India batter Virender Sehwag came up with an out-of-the-box suggestion, saying it would be interesting if teams who lose against a side that hasn't qualified, also end up losing their qualification for the World Cup.
"Well played Sri Lanka, deserving champions of #AsiaCup. Imagine, they haven't qualified for the T20 World Cup which is to be held next month. Wouldn't it be interesting if you lose to a team that hasn't qualified you too lose qualification. Tote ud jaate sab teams ke. #SLvsPAK," tweeted Sehwag.
As soon as Sri Lanka won the final, Twitter was flooded with congratulatory messages.
Sri Lanka, a country picking up pieces after the death of democracy while facing enormous financial turbulence, found 11 worthy heroes on a cricket pitch as Dasun Shanaka's unheralded bunch crushed Pakistan by 23 runs to win their sixth Asia Cup title here on Sunday.
It was a victory that was just not about cricket but way beyond that with much deeper historical and political importance.
With PTI inputs