OTD | Hosts Sri Lanka were waylaid by India’s Mohammed Siraj in an one-sided ODI Asia Cup final in 2023 

Asia Cup 2023 will long remain in the memory of cricket fans from both India and Sri Lanka. The match was billed as the battle of the heavyweights as defending champions Sri Lanka took on India. The home team had won the title in 2022 beating Pakistan in the final albeit in the T20I format to take their 6th Asia Cup title. 

India on the other hand had won the title on 7 occasions. This was also the first big challenge for Rohit Sharma as he was building up for the ODI World Cup at home. The tournament was played after a lot of uncertainty. 

Pakistan were set to be solo hosts of the tournament but the BCCI refused to travel across the border. This meant that the Asian Cricket Council had no choice but to use a hybrid model. Just three matches were played in Pakistan with the rest of the tournament being held in Sri Lanka including the finals.

Mohammed Siraj routs Sri Lanka 

It was a jam packed R. Premadasa stadium as the home fans came in for a huge encounter. If they win they would equal India’s record tally of 7 titles and if the visitors win they would win their record 8th Asia Cup title. 

Dasun Shanaka, the Sri Lanka skipper won the toss and chose to bat on an overcast afternoon in Colombo. Kusal Perera and Pathum Nissanka came out to bat to a thunderous ovation. Jasprit Bumrah’s away going ball got the edge of Perera’s bat as Sri Lanka lost their 1st wicket. 

Kusal Mendis then came out as Mendis and Nissanka saw out 16 balls. The Mohammed Siraj show began in the 4th over and that ended the whole game. Pathum Nissanka was caught by Ravindra Jadeja at point for 2. Two balls later Sadeera Samarawickrama was out LBW and the batter opted for DRS without luck. 

In the very next ball, Charith Asalanka spooned an easy catch to Ishan Kishan for a 1st ball duck. The score was reading 8/4 as Siraj was on a hattrick. Dhananjaya De Silva then timed the hattrick ball for four. It was soon 12/5 in four overs as De Silva’s nick was safely caught by KL Rahul. 

The Indian pacer wasn’t done as made it 12/6 in his next over by uprooting the middle stump of Shanaka. The home fans were in complete shock as the Indian team weren’t showing any mercy. The innings ended with Sri Lanka being bowled out for 50 runs. Funnily there was an ironic cheer as soon as the 50-run mark was breached. 

Needing 51 to win, Rohit Sharma sent Shubman Gill and Ishan Kishan to open. The Indian youngsters didn’t break any sweat as they got home to the target with all 10 wickets intact and 263 balls left to play. 

There was no surprise as Siraj was given the man of the match. The Indian pacer at the end of the game said “I have been bowling well for a while. The batters were getting beaten for the last two matches, today I found the edges. I just tried to hit the areas. The wicket was seaming for the last two matches, today there was swing so I tried to make the batters play as much as possible. Because it was swinging, I thought of putting the balls up to the batters. The way I thought, I executed it and the plan was successful”

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