Cricket News: Twitter reactions after Sri Lanka win the 2022 Asia Cup | Reactions to Sri Lanka overcoming the odds and winning the 2022 Asia Cup
Sri Lanka lifted the Asia Cup after defeating Pakistan in the finale in the Dubai International Stadium on Sunday. Bhanuka Rajapaksa’s flamboyant 70-run knock helped the Lankans put up a challenging total of 170 runs in the first innings. He enabled the Dasun Shanaka-led side to recuperate from a position of bother as they were down at 57/5 at one point in time.
Wanindu Hasaranga and Dhananjaya de Silva played an able hand as they struck 36 and 28 respectively to take the team to a competitive score. Shanaka’s bowlers started off indifferently with Dilshan Madhushanka going wayward in the opening over. However, Pramod Madushan’s four-wicket haul helped them break the back of the Pakistani batting lineup.
Mohammed Rizwan and Iftikhar Ahmed stabilised their innings with scores of 55 and 32 respectively. However, their under-par strike rates of 112.24 and 103.34 left Pakistan with too much to chase down towards the back end of the innings. Hasaranga complemented his batting by taking three wickets with the ball whereas Chamika Karunaratne walked away with a couple of scalps to his name too.
Sri Lanka’s victory in the tournament makes for a very sweet story for a country currently embroiled in a dire economic crisis. They were originally supposed to host the current edition of the tournament but the turbulent conditions in the island nation compelled the authorities to move the competition to the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Also, they overcame a common trend of chasing teams winning at Dubai.
Several celebrities and commoners took to Twitter to express their thoughts on Sunday’s finals. Cricblog takes a brief look at some of the top reactions observed in the social networking platform.
Men’s Asia Cup Champions for the 6️⃣th time! ?
#RoaringForGlory #SLvPAK https://t.co/t3RmkBan4t
Absolutely thrilled to see this young team winning the Asia Cup 2022??
We’ve been waiting for this for 8 years since 2014 and it is safe to say that we’re finally back❤️
Great to see the fighting spirit of our team.
Proud of you boys?
#AsiaCup2022
Well played Sri Lanka, deserving champions of #AsiaCup.
Imagine, they haven’t qualified for the T20 World Cup which is to be held next month. Wouldn’t it be interesting if you lose to a team that hasn’t qualified you too lose qualification. Tote ud jaate sab teams ke. #SLvsPAK
Sri Lankan cricket continues to head in the right direction????????. Asia Cup champions 2022.
Congratulations to the Sri Lankan cricket team on winning the Asia Cup 2022. Well played Pakistan!
The second championship for today. Goes to show that, with dedication and determination we can overcome challenges as a nation. Onwards and upwards Sri Lanka!
The last time a team successfully defended a target in finals of World Cup or Asia Cup in all men’s formats was in 2012.
That embarassing loss to Afghanistan feels like it happened in some other imaginary land.
Asia Cup win – This Sri Lankan team’s epoch-making moment.
My nation is in a mess and has gone through much turmoil in the last six months. This Asia Cup win will cheer up folks at home. Just imagine how good this team is going to be when Chameera and Avishka return from injury for World Cup.
The guys who weren’t old enough to witness 1996 World Cup, this Asia cup is a good highlight. Similar troubled domestic scenario, two teams refused to travel to SL to play their matches. Such ignominy, yet they won beating all odds.
Since the first final in 1986, this is the first Asia Cup Final with all players never playing an Asia Cup Final before.
#PAKvSL
#PAKvSL #AsiaCup2022 https://t.co/nevHzOxTtc
Hasaranga turning out to be a beast in the T20 format, any team will wish to have him.
Sri Lanka had lost their opening game of the tournament against Afghanistan and that had led to many ruling them out of any contention to emerge victorious in the Asia Cup. However, the side displayed tremendous composure and character to win over multiple crunch moments thereafter.
Despite dealing with a host of injury concerns, they ensured that they rose up to the occasion to cross over the finishing line against all odds on more than one occasion. Several key stars like Dushmantha Chameera and Avishka Fernando are set to return to the setback from their respective layoffs. This victory has put the focus back on the Lankans and their performances will now be closely anticipated and monitored as they head into the T20 World Cup in Australia next month.