Asia Cup 2023 Final IND vs SL Match Preview, Head-to-Head, Pitch Report, Key Players, Playing XI

The Asia Cup 2023 final is set, featuring India and Sri Lanka. Sri Lanka’s impressive performance in the knockout game against Pakistan secured their spot in the final. If you’re a cricket enthusiast looking for match insights, including pitch reports, key player analysis, head-to-head records, match previews, etc., this post has you covered. Additionally, you can play on our cricket betting platform to place your bets and stand a chance to win big cash rewards. 

Asia Cup 2023 Final IND vs SL Match Details

The Asia Cup 2023 final is scheduled to be held at the same venue, R Premadasa Stadium in Colombo, with the match set to commence at 3 PM IST.

Pitch Report

The pitch is conducive to batting, offering some initial seam movement for the pacers and later assistance for spinners in the second innings. Batsmen will need to settle in, and if they do, they can put up substantial scores.

Weather Report

While the weather is cloudy, the likelihood of extended rain interruptions is low, and we should expect a full match to take place without losing too much time and overs. Even if rain comes, it would not be too heavy and play can resume after a short delay.

Venue Stats

Asia Cup 2023 Final IND vs SL Match Preview

Team India

India has been in excellent form throughout the tournament, excelling in both batting and bowling departments. Their recent match against Bangladesh was an opportunity to test some new faces in the team. Despite a challenging start for Bangladesh, with Shami and Shardul performing well, Shakib Al Hasan and Towhid Hridoy managed to form a strong partnership, with Shakib scoring 80 runs and Hridoy contributing a valuable half-century. Shami took 2 wickets, while Shardul claimed 3, limiting Bangladesh to 265 for 8.

However, India’s batting also faced difficulties, with Rohit Sharma getting out for a duck, and Tilak Varma not making the most of his debut opportunity. The team lost 4 wickets with a score of under 100 runs. Suryakumar Yadav (SKY) played a rash shot and was dismissed. Axar Patel tried to take the game deep but was eventually dismissed for 42 after playing an ordinary shot. Mustafizur Rehman took 3 wickets, while Tanzim Hasan and Mahedi Hasan claimed 2 each, leaving India 6 runs short of victory. Despite this loss, India remains a strong contender for the Asia Cup 2023.

Team Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka has secured consecutive berths in the Asia Cup finals. Last year, they faced Pakistan in the final and emerged victorious. This year, despite injuries to key players, they have performed exceptionally well. While their bowling was initially a concern, they managed to overcome it. In the virtual knockout game against Pakistan, Sri Lanka displayed a complete performance, rebounding from an embarrassing loss to India in the Super 4 stage.

In the crucial match, Pakistan won the toss and chose to bat first. Fakhar Zaman, who had been struggling, was dismissed early by Pramod Madushan. Babar Azam and Abdullah Shafique then steadied the innings, but Babar was stumped by Dunith Wellalage’s brilliant delivery. Shafique managed to score his maiden ODI fifty but was quickly dismissed by Matheesha Pathirana. Under mounting pressure, Pakistan’s middle order collapsed, and Sri Lanka kept taking wickets. Pakistan found themselves in trouble at 122 for 5. However, Mohammad Rizwan and Iftikhar Ahmed launched a counterattack, hitting the ball well and putting pressure on Sri Lanka. Despite a rain interruption, Pakistan reached a total of 252 for 7. Pathirana took 3 wickets, while Madushan picked up 2.

In response, Sri Lanka had a strong start, with Kusal Perera setting the tone for the chase before getting run out. Kusal Mendis then partnered with Pathum Nissanka, and both of them contributed with fifty-plus run stands before Nissanka was dismissed by Shadab Khan. Sadeera Samarawickrama and Kusal Mendis maintained control over the run rate, frustrating the Pakistani bowlers. However, Iftikhar Ahmed’s crucial wicket of Sadeera provided Pakistan with an opportunity to stage a comeback.

Sri Lankan skipper Dasun Shanaka struggled once again and was dismissed cheaply. Charith Asalanka fought valiantly from one end, but Pakistan started gaining control of the game. However, a twist came when Dhanajaya de Silva and Dunith Wellalage were dismissed by Shaheen Afridi on consecutive deliveries. The last over, bowled by Zaman Khan, turned out to be a thrilling contest. Sri Lanka needed 6 runs off 2 balls, and they managed to secure a boundary off Charith Asalanka’s bat, followed by a crucial couple to seal the victory. Asalanka remained unbeaten on 49, and Sri Lanka secured their place in the final.

Head-to-Head Records

Let us take these stats to check which team has done well.

One can easily find out that India has performed exceptionally well against India.

Key Players to Watch

We will take the stats from the ongoing Asia Cup 2023. 

Team India

Player	Matches	Runs	Batting Average	Wickets	BowlingAverage
R Sharma	5	194	48.5
S Gill	5	275	68.7
K Yadav	4			9	11.4

Team Sri Lanka

Player	Matches	Runs	Batting Average	Wickets	BowlingAverage
S Samarawickrama	5	215	43
K Mendis	5	253	50.6
D Wellalage	5			10	17.2
M Pathirana	5			11	22.6

Squads

Team India

Rohit Sharma (c), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli,  Ishan Kishan, KL Rahul (wk), Hardik Pandya, Shreyas Iyer, Ravindra Jadeja, Kuldeep Yadav, Shardul Thakur, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, Mohammed Shami, Axar Patel, Suryakumar Yadav, Prasidh Krishna, Tilak Varma

Team Sri Lanka

Pathum Nissanka, Dimuth Karunaratne, Kusal Mendis (wk), Sadeera Samarawickrama, Kusal Perera, Charith Asalanka, Dhananjaya de Silva, Dasun Shanaka (c), Dunith Wellalage, Maheesh Theekshana, Matheesha Pathirana, Kasun Rajitha, Binura Fernando, Pramod Madushan, Dushan Hemantha

Asia Cup 2023 Final IND vs SL Match Predictions

Team India

Team Sri Lanka

Predicted Playing XI

Team India

Rohit Sharma (c), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli,  Ishan Kishan, KL Rahul (wk), Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Shardul Thakur, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, Kuldeep Yadav

Team Sri Lanka

Pathum Nissanka, Kusal Perera, Sadeera Samarawickrama, Kusal Mendis (wk), Charith Asalanka, Dasun Shanaka (c), Dhananjaya de Silva, Dunith Wellalage, Pramod Madushan, Maheesh Theekshana, Matheesha Pathirana

Fantasy Playing XI

Based on the stats above, this could be the winning fantasy team.

Conclusion

Both teams have earned their place in the final with some outstanding performances, particularly against Pakistan, which played a crucial role in their journey to the final. India, with its 7 Asia Cup titles, and Sri Lanka, with 6 titles to their name, will be competing for another Asia Cup. Who will come on top? We will see very soon. Cricket enthusiasts can join your cricket betting website to add more excitement to the match and win big cash rewards.