Pakistan vs Sri Lanka, Asia Cup 2022 Final Highlights: SL win their 6th title, beat PAK by 23 runs in Dubai

After that conversation with Shastri, Shanaka goes over to collect the trophy. He poses for a photo with it and as soon as his teammates know that the honours have been done, they engulf him. An incredible performance from the Sri Lankans today and throughout this tournament. This is more than just a great preparation for them and this proud cricketing nation. This team has seen some hard, hard times off late and unfortunately, so has the country they represent for myriad reasons in recent months. Cricket is only a sport, and there may be many who wouldn't be able to care about this win at the moment in Sri Lanka even if they wanted to. But there may be others who would take a moment from their hardships to celebrate this win in their own way and it is Shanaka's men who have created that little island of happiness for their people. The likes of Kumar Sangakkara, Mahela Jayawardene, Muttiah Muralitharan, Chaminda Vaas, Arjuna Ranatunga, Aravinda De Silva and Lasith Malinga and many more greats have all represented this country and left an inedible mark on this sport. Let's hope for the sake of cricket that a strong Sri Lankan side re-emerges from this win. That's it from us for this tournament, we hope you enjoyed it as much as we did, there were some extraordinarily close matches across the board over the last two weeks or so. Good night and goodbye!

Before he lifts that trophy, he has a chat with Ravi Shastri and takes the opportunity to thank the suffering people of his country. "I must thank the crowd, they were supporting us massively. And also to the fans at home, hope we made them proud. (Toss result) If I go back to IPL 2021, it was Chennai who won the final after batting first. These youngsters know conditions and situation really well. After losing five wickets, Hasaranga-Rajapaksa made a difference. Up front, Chamika and DDS batted really well too. (Chat at halfway stage) The last-ball six in the 20th over was the turnaround point. 170 is always a tricky total. (What did you tell bowlers?) It was all about nerves. I knew the youngster can always deliver. He can go wrong at the start but we have given him the trust and belief. (Loss in the first game, today the winners... what was the discussion that day?) It could happen to any good team. It happened to us for a good reason. We had serious discussions after that. We have players with good calibre, and they stood up well. That's where we became champions. (Fielding effort in final) It improved a lot by the time we reached the final. We made mistakes earlier, but final is always the final. We were 100% today, credit to players and coaching staff."

"Want to congratulate Sri Lanka, they played some outstanding cricket. The way we dominated them early, their partnership after that was outstanding. The pitch was good, like the Dubai wicket, always fun to play here. As a batting unit we didn't do according to our potential. (15-20 extra runs conceded?) We didn't finish the way we would've wanted to. But there are lots of positives from the tournament. Our fielding wasn't up to the mark today, and our middle-order couldn't finish well today. But there were lot of individual performances: Rizwan, Shadab, Nawaz and Naseem. The way Naseem expressed himself in his first tournament. (Batting fine tuning?) Part of the game. The more you learn from these ups and downs is good. But you need to reduce your mistakes," Babar says. 

He finishes with nine wickets, second highest wicket taker in the tournament behind Bhuvneshwar Kumar. He also scored a total of 66 runs. "When I went to bat, we were 60/5 so we planned that if we can score over 150 that is a good total. And I said that I will play my own role, so that's why I played my normal shots. (What did you think of the pitch?) First few overs, ball was swinging. But when I was batting, wicket was really good. (Bowling performance through the tourney) I love to bowl in subcontinent. I like to bowl on the stumps, I think that helps me successful. I try to bowl without boundaries so that's why I got three wickets in the last over today. (Fielders and catchers helped) Our boys did great job, especially after losing to Afghanistan," says Hasaranga. 

Hard to argue against that, although Wanindu Hasaranga's innings and three wickets and Pramod Madushan's 4/34 came close. "It was not easy out there. They were bowling well. Wanindu and I had a nice plan. Nature of SL team is to be positive and not have pressure. That helped us score runs. (Did you discuss who will be the aggressor?) When Iftikhar was bowling, Wanindu wanted to attack, but fortunately both of us were getting the runs. (Mind and thought to your game today?) I had to change my game today since Pakistan were top at the moment. Had to spend some time in the crease. (Target in mind?) When Chris came to talk to us at the drinks break, I told him that it looks like a 140 pitch. And eventually we stayed till the end and the eventual target was much different. This is a game of momentum, and we set the momentum in the last over of the first innings," he tells Shastri. 

That is what Maheesh Theekshana calls this team in his tweet. “No need to have world class players, when you have 11 brothers,” he says. 

Ravi Shastri's booming voice is back. He reads out the sponsors and names the of the dignitaries present, which includes former India and Pakistan captains Sourav Ganguly and Rameez Raja, both present in their capacity of the positions they hold in the BCCI and PCB respectively. 

Wasim Akram says unequivocally that Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan cannot both be playing as anchors when they open the innings together. 

The batting legends have tweeted out their thoughts on this Sri Lankan side. “Good toss to lose boys !! Showed character and passion to play for the country and so proud of each and every one… enjoy the victory as entire country will.. brilliant team effort #AsiaCup2022 ,” said Jayawardene. 

“@OfficialSLC @dasunshanaka1 @BhanukaRajapak3 amazing win and thoroughly deserved. Played like a team of true champions. You have kept inspiring as a side,” said Sangakkara. 

Dasun Shanaka has joined quite an exclusive club today. A club that has Duleep Mendis (1986), Arjuna Ranatunga (1997), Marvan Atapattu (2004), Mahela Jayawardene (2008) and Angelo Mathews (2014). 

“I think if any team thinks about toss, then they are not a champion team. Sri Lanka were that today, they didn't think of toss. And then they hurt us for our mistakes. They deserved to be champions. (SL 67/5 after ten overs, after that what happened?) We made mistakes. We are human. We also played well through the tournament, but we lost the momentum in the first innings. In T20 cricket, whichever team has better momentum at the change of innings has the advantage.”

“He (Dhananjaya de Silva) set the tone at the top for us. Great thing is at any given point everybody's put their hands up. Just had to get a method. Had confidence in the talent in the team. Came in with a very young seam attack - seeing them perform has been superb. It's not right to pick one person out - it's been a team effort.”

"Feel so good. Winning after seven years. One and a half years ago, we were nowhere. Now we are a different team with youngsters. I feel so good. (Losing toss and winning) Coach said, don't worry, whatever happens at the toss we can do it. Show your attitude and play your normal game. We promised to fight and show ourselves. There was lot of hard work. Players pushed their limits. The boys were excellent, even after the first loss. They pushed themselves every time."

Their best days are often spoken of in the past tense and it looked like Sri Lanka are going to crash out of this tournament as well when they were thrashed by Afghanistan in the first match. They proved everyone wrong and how. Today, Rajapaksa and Hasaranga stepped up with the bat after which Madushan took charge by taking four wickets in his spell. Hasaranga then followed up with the ball with that extraordinary 17th over in which he picked three wickets. And just to drive home how rare it is for Sri Lanka to pull off something like this, they will now have to qualify for the T20 World Cup later this year as they are ranked a lowly 8th in the standings. 

That's the sixth Asia Cup title in the bag for this extraordinary Sri Lankan side. How they have struggled to live up to the glories of the past in recent years and yet, they have put all that behind them, strung together five consecutive wins and actually gone and taken the title. Don't pinch yourself Sri Lankan fans, this has actually happened. Your team have beaten the likes of India and Pakistan to the Asia Cup title. 

Pramod Madushan ends his spell with figures of 4/34. Hasnain goes for an almighty mow over midwicket and connects perfectly. 

The collapse continues. Naseem goes for a big shot over long off. It was a slower delivery and he ends up holing out there. What a moment this is going to be for this team and the country. 

Naseem c Karunaratne b Madushan 4 (2), Pakistan 125/9 in 18.2 overs

Sri Lanka can smell the trophy now, Shadab Khan falls to Maheesh Theekshana Pakistan 120/8 in 18 overs, they have lost their last 5 wickets for just 18 runs. 

Shadab Khan c Gunathilaka b Theekshana 8 (6), Pakistan 120/8 in 18 overs

Hasaranga takes three in the 17th over after scoring a 21-ball 36 while batting. Sixth title loading. Kushdil slogs against the spin, short third man takes it. 

Khushdil Shah c Theekshana b Hasaranga 2 (4), Pakistan 112/7 in16.5 overs

Sri Lanka can smell it now. The dangerous Asif Ali, probably the only player who could've pulled off this ridiculous chase, totally deceived by the googly. Hasaranga taking Sri Lanka home now.  

Asif Ali b Hasaranga 0 (1), PAK 111/6, need 60 to win in 21 balls

Game over? Tossed up outside off, Rizwan can't connect the big shot and is caught at midwicket. 

Rizwan c Gunathilaka b Hasaranga 55 (49), Pakistan 110/5 in 16.1 overs, need 61 to win in 23 balls

Pakistan need a lot more of that to say the least. He has got to 54 off 47 balls and Pakistan need 62 to win off 25. 

Wicket no.4 falls, this is Sri Lanka's game to lose now. Ball gets big on Nawaz and he miscues the pull shot, holes out at deep backward square. 

Nawaz c Madushan b Karunaratne 6 (9), Pakistan 102/4 in 15.2 overs, need 69 to win in 28 balls

Pakistan need 70 to win off 30 balls. They under the pump now. Time's running out for Rizwan, he has scored just 47 runs in 45 balls, Dhananjaya has Nawaz's number and just doesn't allow him to go big. Sri Lanka are firmly on top here. 

The Sri Lankan fielders are absolutely flying around. Nawaz smashes Dhananjaya de Silva down the ground over the bowler's head for what looks like a sure-shot four. But then Gunathilaka comes charging in, puts in a full stretch dive and catches the ball before it goes over the boundary.