Credit: Twitter
Sri Lanka defeated Pakistan in a last-ball thriller to seal a spot for themselves in the Asia Cup 2023 finals with the help of brilliant batting performances from Kusal Mendis and Sadeera Samarawickrama, while Charith Asalanka was the one who remained cool on the field and helped their side to go past the victory line when they needed six runs to win off the last two deliveries.
Talking about this game, Pakistan winning the toss opted to bat first and posted a total of 252/7 in 42 overs. Initially, the game was reduced to 45 overs (due to a delayed start at 5:15 PM) and once again rain interruption was seen in the match when they were at 130/5 in 27.4 overs, hence once again the game got reduced to 42 overs per side.
Mohammad Rizwan played a brilliant knock of unbeaten 86 runs in 73 balls which helped Pakistan to reach 252 runs and the revised target set for the Lankan team was the same 252 runs in 42 overs. Pakistan team despite putting their best efforts weren't able to defend this target as the third wicket batting pair Samarwickrama-Kusal Mendis of the Sri Lankan team always ensured that they were ahead in this run-chase.
Numbers and Stats from SL vs PAK game:
1 - For the first time since 2017, Sri Lanka has defeated Pakistan in an ODI match.
Sri Lanka vs Pakistan in ODIs since 2017:
Played - 9
Pakistan - 8
Sri Lanka - 1
2 - Only for the second time a team has chased down the target in the last ball of the match in Asia Cup history.
Instances of a team chasing a target in the last ball of the match in the Asia Cup:
India vs Bangladesh in 2018 (Finals)
Sri Lanka vs Pakistan in 2023 (Super Fours)
2 - Mohammad Rizwan and Iftikhar Ahmed have become only the second pair for the Pakistan team to record a 100-plus run partnership for the sixth (or) lower wicket in the Asia Cup.
Instances of Pakistan pair recording a century partnership for a sixth (or) lower wicket in Asia Cup:
Fawad Alam-Sohail Tanvir: 100 vs Hong Kong in Karachi, 2008
Mohammad Rizwan-Iftikhar Ahmed: 108 vs SL in Colombo(RPS), 2023
3 - Kusal Mendis has recorded his third fifty-plus score in the Asia Cup 2023.
Kusal Mendis' fifty-plus scores in Asia Cup 2023:
92(84) vs AFG in Lahore
50(73) vs BAN in Colombo(RPS) - Super Fours
91(87) vs PAK in Colombo(RPS)
Most fifty-plus scores in Asia Cup 2023:
Rohit Sharma - 3
Kusal Mendis - 3
8 - For the 8th time India will face Sri Lanka in the finals of the Asia Cup.
Asia Cup editions where India faced Sri Lanka in the finals of the tournament:
1988 - India beat Sri Lanka by 6 wickets
1990/91 - India beat Sri Lanka by 7 wickets
1995 - India beat Sri Lanka by 8 wickets
1997 - Sri Lanka beat India by 8 wickets
2004 - Sri Lanka beat India by 25 runs
2008 - Sri Lanka beat India by 100 runs
2010 - India beat Sri Lanka by 81 runs
Note: In the 1984 Asia Cup edition there were no finals. India ended in first position, while Sri Lanka ended in second position in the points table hence team India were declared the winners of that tournament.
India beat Sri Lanka by 10 wickets when they faced each other in the 1984 Asia Cup.
Sri Lanka have qualified for Asia Cup finals in 1986, 1988, 1990/91, 1995, 1997, 2000, 2004, 2008, 2010, 2014, 2022 & 2023 edition.
11 - Sri Lanka have defeated Pakistan for the 11th time in Asia Cup (ODI) out of 15 matches played between them so far.
SL vs PAK in Asia Cup (ODIs):
Played - 15
Sri Lanka - 11
Pakistan - 4
Most wins against an opponent in Asia Cup (ODIs):
Pakistan - 13 vs Bangladesh
Sri Lanka - 13 vs Bangladesh
India - 11 vs Bangladesh
Sri Lanka - 11 vs Pakistan
76 - Sri Lanka have won the 76th ODI match at R Premadasa Stadium in Colombo.
Teams to win most ODI matches at a venue:
Australia - 90 in Sydney Cricket Ground
Pakistan - 83 in Sharjah Cricket Stadium (UAE)
Sri Lanka - 76 in Colombo (RPS)
Australia - 75 in Melbourne Cricket Ground
Zimbabwe - 52 in Harare Sports Club
86 - Mohammad Rizwan has scored 86 runs in this game
Highest Score for Mohammad Rizwan in ODIs:
115(126) vs AUS in Sharjah, 2019
104(102) vs AUS in Dubai, 2019
86*(73) vs SL in Colombo(RPS), 2023
