Before the match, fans and experts were expecting Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj to deliver their best in the Final of the Asia Cup. It looked like both Bumrah and Siraj came up with an authoritative plan which they executed with precision.
“They Cannot Play Him”
Bumrah sent opener Kusal Parera to the pavilion in the very first over. Indian fans in the stands were already pumped up, but they could have only dreamt of the scenes which they got to witness in the fourth over.
Siraj took the ball, and left Sri Lanka in shambles, from where they could not gather themselves.
He eked out four wickets in a single over, sending off Pathum Nissanka, Sadeera Samarawickrama, Charith Asalanka and Dhananjaya de Silva. Royal Challengers Bangalore’s star bowler was on a hattrick, but De Silva, taking advantage of field position, pushed the ball for four.
The scoreboard read 12/5, which was the second-lowest score at the fall of the fifth wicket in an ODI final.
Siraj came again to bowl the sixth over and bowled out Lankan captain Dasun Shanaka. The off stump went flying as Siraj completed his five-fer in the final match. He knocked over Kusal Mendis in the twelfth over to complete a six-wicket haul. At the end of the match, Siraj gave away just 21 runs and took 6 wickets. His match-winning performance earned him the Man of the Match award in the Final of the Asia Cup.
Twitter erupted after Siraj’s exhilarating performance. Fans could not hold back from posting photos, videos and memes in praise of the man of the moment Mohammed Siraj.
Others Join the party
A couple of back, Eoin Morgan equalled the stature of Hardik Pandya in the Indian team with that of Ben Stokes. Apart from his batting abilities, Pandya has proven to be his captain’s man whenever he has been handed the ball to provide crucial breakthroughs.
After the twelfth over, Pandya decided to wreak more havoc on the already troubled Lankas. He chipped three wickets to bowl Sri Lanka out for just fifty runs. Sri Lanka were All out in the fewest overs, 15.2 by a Full Member team just behind Zimbabwe’s 13.5.
The chase was a cakewalk for Shubman Gill and Ishan Kishan, who was promoted up the order to open the Indian Innings.
The men blue won by 10 wickets to win their 8th Asia Cup Final, they can walk with their heads high into the ODI series against Aussies at home. Which will be their final test ahead of the World Cup.
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