Asia Cup final, Sri Lanka vs Pakistan | Bhanuka Rajapaksa flays Pakistan attack to take Sri Lanka to 170 for 6

Pakistan captain had won the toss and decided to bowl in the Asia Cup final in Dubai

Pakistan pacers started with a bang before Bhanuka Rajapaksa's brilliant 71 not out took Sri Lanka to a challenging 170 for 6 in the Asia Cup final in Dubai on Sunday.

It was a good toss to win for Babar Azam until Rajapaksa's calculated assault at the death saw 50 runs being scored off last 4 overs.

Young Naseem Shah (1/40 in 4 overs) and the uber cool Haris Rauf (3/29 in 4 overs) bowled with a lot of pace and fire extracting movement off the track as they broke the backbone of the Lankan batting within the Powerplay overs before Rajapaksa scored one of his finest fifties considering the situation that his team was in.

The spinners leg-spinner Shadab Khan (1/28 in 4 overs) maintained his prolific consistency that has been one of the hallmarks of Pakistan team in this tournament.

However, Rajapaksa (71 of 45 balls) and Wanindu Hasaranga (36 off 21 balls) added 58 quick runs after Sri Lanka was left gasping for breath at 58 for 5.

There was another 54 run stand with Chamika Karunaratne and Sri Lanka did cross the 160-run mark. Shah, the 19-year-old pace sensation, bowled one of the most lethal off-cutters seen in this tournament as it pitched back of length but moved in sharply, giving no time to in-form Kusal Mendis (0) to bring his bat down.

While Dhananjaya de Silva (28 off 21 balls) did hit some picturesque cover drives, there was no support literally from the other end.