With a vital victory over Pakistan in the Super Four, Dasun Shanaka‘s Sri Lanka advanced to the championship game of the 2023 Asia Cup. Sri Lanka needed 252 runs to win the game in 42 overs in a match plagued by rain.
Kusal Mendis, Sadeera Samarawickrama, and Charith Asalanka completed the game for Sri Lanka after the openers failed to make a huge impact, playing magnificent knocks and leading their team to the Asia Cup final.
Samarawickrama added 48* runs, Kusal Mendis scored 91 runs in 87 deliveries, and Asalanka scored 49* runs in 47 deliveries to win the match. Speaking about his performance, Asalanka stood up and stated that the fact that the final ball was slower worked in his favour. He even placed his knock as his second-best career innings to date.
“I just thought about how I can get two to hit a gap and run hard since it’s a big field, and I just encouraged Pathirana to run hard. I assumed either he would throw a bouncer or a yorker, but he bowled a slower ball, so that worked in my favour. I am quite happy. Mendis and Sadeera both batted superbly. I wanted to complete. That is what I do.
According to me, this innings can rank second,” Charith Asalanka was cited by India Today as stating.
Kusal Mendis is glad to have reached the final. Kusal Mendis, the team’s star hitter, also discussed the team’s performance. Following a thrilling victory over Pakistan, Sri Lanka will now face India in the championship game of the Asia Cup 2023. Mendis commented on his performance and said that the persistent loss of wickets was what caused the game to enter the final overs. He said that he was glad to help his team win the match.
“I’m satisfied with how I played and happy to have made it to the final. We were anxious when those two wickets dropped, but with Charith in the middle, we had optimism. In one game versus Afghanistan, he accomplished this. We bowled extremely well, too, and I’m glad to be in the championship game, Mendis said.
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