🏏Asia Cup 2022 Final : Sri Lanka vs Pakistan 🏏 - Page 4

The batting from Pakistan has wobbled in the last couple of games. They were rescued by Naseem Shah's back-to-back sixes against Afghanistan, before coming a cropper against Sri Lanka. They generally take a different approach to Sri Lanka and look to build a platform before unleashing in the last few overs. And Babar Azam's form hasn't helped with that. Will the captain turn it around today on what looks a good pitch?

SL Tactics & Matchups: Spin department led by Wanindu Hasaranga could define Sri Lanka's fate in this fixture. Pakistan's top-six have struck at less than 120 against spinners in T20Is since 2021, and clearly struggled against Sri Lanka spinners on Friday. Even part-timer Dhananjaya de Silva had them on strings, finishing with a spell of 1 for 18 in which he didn't concede a single four. Pakistan have also repeatedly lost momentum in the post-PowerPlay phase of 7 to 10 overs - a phase that Sri Lanka spinners could look to maximise.

Head to head: Sri Lanka and Pakistan have met in three Asia Cup finals - the former won in 1986 and 2014 while the latter emerged victorious in 2000. This will be Sri Lanka's 11th Asia Cup final - the most for a team.

What to expect: Another 'win toss, bowl first' situation. 26 of the last 30 T20Is have been won by the chasing side. Three of the four target-setting winners have been teams that have scored in excess of 190.

Among the two teams, Pakistan have a better record than Sri Lanka on both counts since 2021 against top-10 teams - batting first, Pakistan have won 5 in 12 games while Sri Lanka have won just 2 of their 17. Batting second, Pakistan have 13 wins in 17 while Sri Lanka have won 9 in 19.

"This pitch has never been used before. Looks really good pitch. For batting and for bowling. With the new ball, it might swing one or two overs tops. But this pitch is one of the best in this Asia Cup. These pitches have been the best in the world." - the pitch report by Sanjay Manjrekar and Wasim Akram

Pakistan won the toss and elected to field.

Congratulations.🥳

Pakistan have won the toss and have opted to field

Pak won 50% match.

Azam: We'll bowl first. Looking forward to the match. Confidence level is high. We've played very well in this tournament. Every match we have new POTM. Shadab, Naseem back. Usman and Hasan out.

The two best teams in the competition face off in the championship decider. They met only a couple of days ago, when Sri Lanka emerged winners, but that was a dead rubber in which a lot of crucial players didn't take the field. Pakistan, especially, will have Shadab Khan and Naseem Shah to fire up their bowling line-up and Sri Lanka know it'll be an uphill task tonight, especially if they lose the toss and bat first

Pak won the toss and opted to bowl first.

Shanaka: Would've bowled as well. But happy to bat as it's a final. Openers have stood up. Madushanka and Mahesh have been brilliant. Good sign for World Cup. Record has been good in this tournament. Same team.