PAK vs SL: Host Sri Lanka bowl out Pakistan to win 6th Asia Cup title

After a forgetful performance against Afghanistan in their Asia Cup 2022 opener, no one expected the Sri Lankan team to even make it to the final less even win it.

However, the host nation made it happen as they went on to win their 6th Asia Cup title by 23 runs. They bowled out the Men in Green for 147 runs after posting a target of 170. 

Sri Lanka has won Asia Cup in: 1986, 1997, 2004, 2008, 2014 and now in 2022.

Wanindu Hasaranga had dismissed Mohammad Rizwan, Asif Ali, and Khushdil Shah in the same over to just strengthen Sri Lanka's hopes to win the title.

Pramod Madushan had also struck twice and dismissed Babar Azam and Fakhar Zaman, back-to-back. 

As for Pakistan batters, Rizwan had completed his half-century in 48 balls, but he could not stay till the end to help his side win the title.

Earlier, Bhanuka Rajapaksa hit an unbeaten 61 off 24 which had helped the host nation make a comeback after being down 58.5. He along with Hasaranga took Sri Lanka's score to 170/6 after 20.0 overs. 

For Pakistan, Haris Rauf was the pick of the bowlers as he returned with three wickets, while Naseem Khan, Iftikhar Ahmed and Shadab Khan scalped one each. 

This is the first instance of Sri Lanka winning five consecutive T20Is since April 2014. The last such sequence included matches from their title-winning World Cup campaign in Bangladesh in 2014.

What's even more interesting is that they have not got a direct entry into the upcoming World Cup and will have to qualify for the same after playing the qualifying rounds.