Mohammed Siraj’s magical record-breaking six-fer helped India outplay Sri Lanka by a colossal margin and win their eighth Asia Cup title. Rohit Sharma-led India won the final by 10 wickets with 263 balls left to spare. This is India's biggest victory in terms of balls remaining.
Overall, this is the fifth-largest ODI win by balls remaining. India’s previous biggest win in terms of balls remaining came against Kenya in 2001 when they won the match by 10 wickets with 231 balls left in the innings.
In the run chase, Rohit did not come out to bat and sent Ishan Kishan to open the innings with Shubman Gill. Sri Lankan pacers lacked the spirit to put up a fight despite assistance from conditions. Gill and Kishan went on a boundary-hitting spree as India chased down the target of 51 in the seventh over only at R.Premadasa Stadium, Colombo. Gill hit six fours in his 19-ball 27 whereas Kishan hit the winning runs to remain unbeaten for 23 from 18 balls.
Earlier, Shanaka won the toss and opted to bat first in overcast conditions. Jasprit Bumrah drew first blood with the wicket of Kusal Perera as KL Rahul took a stunning catch diving to his left. Siraj started off with a maiden over.
In his next over, he got the wicket of Pathum Nissanka as Ravindra Jadeja took an excellent catch to his right at backward point. He brought the ball into the stumps against Sadeera Samarawickrama to trap him in front of the wickets. Sri Lanka's hero of the previous game, Charith Asalanka played a loose chip shot but got caught by Kishan at covers. For the hat-trick ball, there was an attacking field in place. Dhananjaya de Silva managed to score a boundary but next ball he edged the ball to Rahul as Sri Lanka lost half the side for 12 after four overs.
After Bumrah's maiden over, Shanaka played down the wrong line and got bowled. Siraj completed his fifer, the joint-fastest in terms of balls in the 21st century. After a few quiet overs, Siraj got another wicket. In-form Kusal Mendis got bowled as Siraj got the ball to nip back in. Hardik Pandya joined the party as well. Dunith Wellalage got out the short ball as Rahul took an easy catch. In his next over, Pandya struck twice to bundle out Sri Lanka for a paltry 50, their second-lowest ODI total.
Sri Lanka got bowled out for 15.2 overs, the lowest ODI total against India. Siraj finished with six wickets for 21 runs from seven overs. He became the first bowler after Sri Lanka’s Ajantha Mendis to take a six-fer in the Asia Cup final.
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