Even India captain Rohit Sharma wouldn't have dreamt of a more comprehensive victory than the one the Men in Blue tasted at the R Premadasa Stadium in Colombo on Sunday (September 17). India beat Sri Lanka by 10 wickets and 263 balls remaining in what turned out to be a short turnaround with Sri Lanka getting bowled out in 15.2 overs. The star of the evening was Mohammed Siraj who was spot on with the ball in hand right from the word go, starting off with a maiden over.
However, it was Siraj's second over which pushed Sri Lanka almost to a point of no-recovery. The right-arm pacer scalped four wickets in an over, getting the wickets of Pathum Nissanka, Sadeera Samarawickrama, Charith Asalanka and Dhananjaya de Silva in the same over, in what was the fourth over of the innings. He eventually finished with figures of 6/21 off his seven overs. He was so charged up in his four-wicket over that he chased the ball down to the boundary off the lone scoring shot in that over, after realising there was no one stationed at mid-on.
Also on ABP LIVE | Mohammed Siraj Scalps Four Wickets In An Over In Dream Opening Spell In Asia Cup Final- WATCH
Sri Lankan batters failed to live up to the challenge posed by the Indian pacers who were spot on with their line and lengths. However, having opted to bat first, that wasn't the kind of performance, Sri Lanka would have been expecting. Only two batters finished in double figures- Kusal Perera (17) and Dushan Hemantha (13)- while as many as five of them departed without scoring as Sro Lanka were bowled out for 50.
In the run-chase, India decided to send a new opening pair with Ishan Kishan getting to open alongside Shubman Gill who raced to their target of 51 in 6.1 overs. Gill scored 27 off 19 balls while Kishan remained unbeaten on 23 from 18 balls as India clinched their eighth Asia Cup to extend their record of the most number of trophies in the continental tournament.