Dasun Shanaka and his men scripted one of the best sporting moments in Sri Lanka’s history by producing an empathic win over Pakistan in the Asia Cup final.
The underdogs Lankan side defeated Pakistan by 23 runs to lift their 6th continental Cup. Batting first, The Island nation piled up 170, courtesy of Bhanuka Rajapaksa’s 71 off 45 balls.
The match’s fate could have been different had Pakistan’s vice-captain, Shadab Khan, not dropped Rajapaksa.
The 23-year-old had a bad day at the office in the finals as he dropped two crucial catches. When Rajapaksa was on 54, Shadab and Asif Ali collided while attempting to catch the ball, and it went for a six.
Disappointed by his performance, Shadab took to Twitter to apologize to Pakistan supporters.
He blamed himself for letting his team down by dropping two crucial catches. ‘Catches win matches, and I let my team down.’
He further praised Naseem Shah, Haris Rauf, and Mohammad Nawaz for their excellent display in the tournament. Among the batters, he praised Mohammad Rizwan, who ended the campaign as the leading run scorer (281).
“Catches win matches. Sorry, I take responsibility for this loss. I let my team down. Positives for the team, Naseem Shah, Haris Rauf, Mohammad Nawaz, and the entire bowling attack were great. Mohammad Rizwan fought hard. The entire team tried their best. Congratulations to Sri Lanka” posted Khan on Twitter.
A fan in the comment section uploaded a video of all the fielding errors committed by Shadab.