The Asia Cup Super Four stage match between Pakistan and Sri Lanka ended in a unique manner with Sri Lanka becoming victors even when both team scored equal runs in the same number of overs. Sri Lanka will now take on India in the Asia Cup 2023 finals. Sri Lanka are the current Asia Cup title holders.

This Asia Cup, where most of the matches were marred by rain, saw yet another match being tweaked by the Duckworth Lewis method that slashes target runs and overs based on algorithms taking into consideration multiple objective  parameters. While the DLS method facilitated a surprise exit for Afghanistan, it was Pakistan’s turn in the match on 14 September which was also a virtual semi-final of sorts, with India already in the finals, while the fate of Pakistan and Sri Lanka hung on the result of the clash on 14 September.

Excellent performances by the Sri Lankan trio of Sadeera (Samarawickrama), (Kusal) Mendis and Charith (Asalanka) got Sri Lanka their dream final, which will give them an opportunity to retain their Asia Cup crown on Sunday. Sri Lankan cricket has been through its ups and down in the last four years and the final of the Asia Cup 2023 will be reprisal for the tiny nation of the Indian Subcontinent.

The match, which was cut down from 50 to 45 overs, saw a further reduction to 42 overs, with Pakistan having scored 252 in 42 overs and Sri Lanka getting a target of 252 in 42 overs.  The Sri Lankans won the  game by two wickets despite both teams scoring equal runs in equal overs. Pakistan had lost 7 wickets while Sri Lanka lost 8 wickets. The score at the end of 27.4 overs for Pakistan was 130 for 5 when rain stopped play briefly, reducing the total playable overs from 45 to 42. Had Pakistan not lost the 5th wicket just before rain, the target score would have been 255.