On Tuesday, India’s tense yet persuasive win over Sri Lanka in their second Super 4 match of the Asia Cup 2023 made them able to qualify for the final. After a comprehensive performance against Pakistan, that was over two days, India had to drill in-depth to defeat Sri Lanka and become the first team to qualify for the 2023 Asia Cup title decider. The second spot in the final will be decided from the match between Sri Lanka and Pakistan, with Bangladesh already out of the analysis having lost two Super 4 matches.
Sri Lanka, who are the defending champions of the Asia Cup, have one victory and one loss in their Super 4 campaign. If their performance against India is to be viewed, it wouldn’t be effortless for Pakistan to defeat them and fix an India-Pakistan clash in the final, particularly if Haris Rauf and Naseem Shah remain unavailable for the decider match.
The pacer duo had sustained injuries in the contest against India that caused them to fail to even come out to bat. Though Pakistan has called up backups for them, they would be expecting to have both Haris and Naseem available for the contest against Sri Lanka.
As teams stand in the points table, India is top of the Super 4 standings with 2 victories in 2 games and a net run rate of +2.690. There’s no way India would not end up among the top 2 teams in this phase of the Asia Cup.
Following India are Sri Lanka who have 1 win in 2 games and a Net Run Rate of -0.200. Pakistan is positioned third with 1 win in 2 matches too. But, their net run rate is quite low at -1.892.
To qualify for the final, the Babar-led playing 11 have to come out on top against Sri Lanka, who will be playing their final Super 4 match in their home conditions.
In a chance where rain washes out play, Pakistan’s hope of placing up the first-ever Indo-Pak final in the Asia Cup will be in trouble.
For the record, India has won the most number of Asia Cup titles in the ODI format, having raised the title 6 times over the years. Pakistan, on the other hand, has only tasted victory twice in the tournament. Sri Lanka, in comparison, has succeeded in the ODI Asia Cup 5 times.
