Rajapaksa, Hasaranga, Madushan win the Asia Cup crown for Sri Lanka

A tournament that began for Sri Lanka with tumult at home and turbulence in the UAE has ended with them taking home the Asia Cup trophy. Pakistan were the side at the receiving end of this thumping, outclassed with the bat, outsmarted with the ball, outdone in the field, and out-thought in the captaincy department by an electric Sri Lankan performance which wrapped up a commanding 23-run win.

Bhanuka Rajapaksa framed the foundation of the Sri Lankan innings, protecting his side from 58 for 5 with an unbeaten 45-ball 71 that saw them post 170. It was trailed by a lively appearance in the field as Sri Lanka outclassed Pakistan’s power, with Wanindu Hasaranga and Pramod Madushan taking seven wickets between them during a languid batting execution.

It had begun so smoothly for Pakistan, with Naseem Shah’s opening-over wicket appearing to set the tone for Pakistan. Haris Rauf was in similarly breathtaking form, never more so than during an extraordinary sixth over where he threatened the stumps of nearly every ball. By then, both Pathum Nissanka and Danushka Gunathilaka had been accounted for, and Dhananjaya de Silva and Dasun Shanaka would soon follow.

A revival led by Rajapaksa and Hasaranga helped Sri Lanka force themselves back into the game and a spirited finish ensured they’d post a competitive score. It was assisted by some ordinary ground fielding and catching by Pakistan; their best fielder, Shadab Khan, had a notoriously poor outing. Sri Lanka, by contrast, showed in the field how desperately they wanted this. Pakistan were stifled through the first half and then blown away in the second.

Babar Azam’s side was never fully certain how to pace their innings, with an unwavering Sri Lanka declining to allow them to crush through the cog wheels. Eventually, it was a confound between a side that had brought their A-game and one that was never entirely viewed as theirs. Well before it became official, it was obvious Sri Lanka would win their 6th Asia Cup prize, covering a hair-raising competition by saving their best execution for last.

Naseem Shah’s first over

Whatever gift Shaheen Afridi possessed that got batters out in his first over seems to have been bestowed on Naseem in his absence. In a mesmeric start where the 19-year old found high pace almost right from the off, Kusal Mendis was done in for a golden duck by a near unplayable delivery. It rushed toward the stumps, at burning velocity, and the hapless Mendis could do minimal about it. The inswinger went through the hole among the bat and cushion, and removed off stump in the wake of cutting the thigh. It was Pakistani quick bowling at its sparkling best.

The umpire’s call

First, there was a slice of luck, and then the glorious skill. Off the fifth ball of his innings in Rauf’s scintillating sixth over, the bowler sent down a near unplayable leg-stump yorker at the in-form Rajapaksa. The batter played all around it, with the ball crunching into his foot. The umpire considered it not out, just to have his choice maintained by the barest of edges, with Hawkeye considering it to be the umpire’s approach influence. To the unaided eye, it watched out from pretty much every point.

With Pakistan on top, it was a colossal moment in the final, and Rajapaksa wouldn’t let it go to waste. What followed was an innings of high class that saw through a period of solidification while Hasaranga at the opposite end took on a more proactive job. Sri Lanka were gradually working on Pakistan, and without facing such a large number of challenges, Rajapaksa had raised a 35-ball 50 years.

Most memorable of all though, was the way he took on Naseem at the end, a bowler who had begun so sensationally in the Powerplay. A flick of the wrists deposited him over backward square leg in his penultimate over, before a four and a six off the innings’ final two balls ensured Sri Lanka had all the momentum with them at the break.

The Sri Lankan first over

There might never have been a game that saw such a contrast at the start of each bowling performance. While Naseem was unplayable to begin Pakistan’s work, Dilshan Madushanka was anything but. It wasn’t until the sixth ball that the innings even began with the left-arm seamer starting off with a no-ball and following it up with four wides, one of which went down to the boundary for an extra four. Pakistan had nine to their name without a legal ball being bowled and a free hit to follow. Be that as it may, Madushanka would return intelligently to permit only three more through the over, and Sri Lanka guaranteed it was a blip as opposed to a harbinger of what was to follow.

The entire second innings

There was so much to enjoy about Sri Lanka in the field it’s almost impossible to pick out individual moments. Madushan’s two-in-two to remove Babar and Fakhar Zaman set the tone. It also helped that an off-colour Mohammad Rizwan never really figured out how to manipulate his innings according to the needs of the target.

Shanaka was especially canny about using his bowlers, perhaps in stark contrast to Pakistan who mysteriously opted not to have Mohammad Nawaz bowl out his quote. Tossing the ball to the offspinner de Silva similarly as the left-hander Nawaz came in to bat at No. 5 demonstrated a masterstroke, with two or three electrifying makes a plunge the field saving significant runs off the initial two balls, followed up by four speck balls that saw the asking rate inflatable to 14.

Sri Lanka caught like a side possessed, too, whereas the only montage you could make of Pakistan’s fielding would be about their sloppiness.Eventually, there was a yawning gap between the exhibitions the different sides put in, with the outcome a fair reflection.