Asia Cup 2022, Super 4: Sri Lanka remains unbeatable in Super 4

Asia Cup 2022: India lost to Sri Lanka after a dominant performance by Skipper Rohit Sharma in the first innings. Read this detailed report to know everything about Asia Cup Super 4 matches

Asia Cup 2022 - Super 4 stage begins today. Sri Lanka will play against Afghanistan in the first match of Super 4 of the Asia Cup tournament. Read this report to get a better idea about the format and points table:

India, Afghanistan, Pakistan and Sri Lanka will play each other in the final round of Asia Cup 2022. While Afghanistan and India are the favourites because of their exceptional track record in T20 Internationals, Pakistan and Sri Lanka would also be hoping to bag their third and sixth Asia cup trophies, respectively. However, it would be Afghanistan's second time playing in Asia Cup Super fours. 

Also read | Asia Cup 2022 points table: Ind, Afg, SL and Pak will play in Super four



Asia Cup 2022, Super 4: How India lost to Sri Lanka?

In the third match of Super 4, Sri Lanka defeated India by six wickets to stay on the top of the table.Sri Lanka won the toss and decided to bowl first. Though KL Rahul and Virat Kohli failed to score many runs, Rohit Sharma and Suryakumar Yadav helped India maintain momentum. After a 97-run stand, India's batting trembled and settled for 173 runs for 8 wickets. Rohit Sharma was the top-scorer for India with 72 runs off 41 balls. Sri Lanka's Dilshan Madushanka was the key bowler as he picked three wickets for 24 runs.

While chasing 174 runs, Sri Lanka started brilliantly as Kusal Mendis and Pathum Nissanka scored 97 runs together. However, Yuzvender Chahal managed to break the partnership and took two important wickets in one over. However, Danusa Shanaka and Rajapaksha helped Sri Lanka win their second match of the Super 4.

Asia Cup 2022, Super 4: What happened in India vs Pakistan?

On Sunday evening, Pakistan avenged their defeat against India by a close finish in the 19.5 overs. Pakistan's best batsman was Muhammad Rizwan.

Pakistan won the toss and chose to bowl first at their adopted home ground Dubai International Cricket stadium. India started their innings on a good note but was restricted by Pakistani bowlers to 181 runs for seven wickets. Virat Kohli was India's top scorer with 60 runs while Shadab Khan was Pakistan's leading wicket-taker with 2 wickets for 31 runs.

India was dominant in the first five overs of the second innings. Babar Azam's dismissal by Ravi Bishnoi created hopes for India. However, Rizwan stayed on the ground for a long and helped his, team, chase a decent total of 181 runs. In the last two overs, Pakistan needed 26 runs, where Asad Ali played a cameo and helped Pakistan win their first match at Asia Cup 2022.

 

Also read | Asia Cup 2022 SL vs AFG Highlights: Sri Lanka avenge loss vs Afghanistan

Asia Cup 2022, Super 4: Qualified teams

India, Pakistan, Afghanistan and Sri Lanka are the four qualified teams for Asia Cup 2022. Afghanistan was the group B topper with a good run rate and two massive wins.

On the other hand, India was the group A topper with a positive run rate and victories against Pakistan and Hong Kong.

Sri Lanka managed to get into the super-fours after a close finish against Bangladesh in the group stage match.

Pakistan thrashed Hong Kong by 155 runs to make its run rate the highest among the four teams. 

Asia Cup 2022, Super 4: Schedule

Date	Contest	Venue	Time
Sep-03	Afghanistan vs Sri Lanka, Super Four, Match 1 (B1 v B2)	Sharjah Cricket Stadium, Sharjah	7:30 PM
Sep-04	India vs Pakistan, Super Four, Match 2 (A1 v A2)	Dubai International Cricket Stadium, Dubai	7:30 PM
Sep-06	India vs Sri Lanka, Super Four, Match 3 (A1 v B2)	Dubai International Cricket Stadium, Dubai	7:30 PM
Sep-07	Afghanistan vs Pakistan, Super Four, Match 4 (A2 v B1)	Dubai International Cricket Stadium, Dubai	7:30 PM
Sep-08	India vs Afghanistan, Super Four, Match 5 (A1 v B1)	Dubai International Cricket Stadium, Dubai	7:30 PM
Sep-09	Sri Lanka vs Pakistan, Super Four, Match 6 (B1 v A2)	Dubai International Cricket Stadium, Dubai	7:30 PM
Sep-11	TBC vs TBC, Final	Dubai International Cricket Stadium, Dubai	7:30 PM

  

Asia Cup 2022, Super 4: Key highlights and results

Sept 3: Match 1, SL vs AFG:  Sri Lanka defeats Afghanistan by 4 wickets in 19.1 overs

Sri Lanka finished the match in 20th over and defeated Afghanistan by four wickets. Kusal Mendis was Sri Lanka's highest scorer with 36 runs off 19 deliveries, while quickfire innings of 31 by Bhanuka Rajapaksa in 14 balls helped them chase 179 in 19.1 overs. Afghanistan's Rahmanullah Gurbaz was awarded "player of the match" for his 84 runs of 45 balls.

Sept 4: Match 2, Ind vs Pak: Pakistan defeated India by 5 wickets

India lost their first match of Super 4 against Pakistan in 19.5 overs. The first innings total of India was 182, which was chased by Pakistan in 19.5 overs. India's top scorer was Virat Kohli with 60 of 44 deliveries. Mohammad Rizwan was Pakistan's top scorer with 71 runs off 51 deliveries. Mohammad Nawaz was awarded Player of the match for his 42(20) and one wicket for 25 runs.

Sept 6: Match 3, Ind vs SL: Sri Lanka defeated India by 6 wickets

After winning against Afghanistan, table toppers Sri Lanka defeated firm favourites India in the third match of the Super 4 Asia Cup. Kusal Mendis, Danusa Shanaka and Bhanuka Rajapaksa were the heroes of the match for Sri Lanka. Yuzvendra Chahal and Ravichandran Ashwin were only bowlers to bag wickets for India in the second innings. Dasun Shanaka was awarded player of the match for exceptional bowling.

Also read | Suresh Raina retires from all formats of cricket, including IPL
 

Asia Cup 2022, Super 4: Points table

Team	Matches Played	Won	Lost	NRR	Points
Sri Lanka	2	2	0	0.351	2
Pakistan	1	1	0	0.126	2
India	2	0	2	-0.125	0
Afghanistan	1	0	1	--0.589	0

  

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Asia Cup 2022, Super 4: What is the format?

Asia cup 2022 is being played in the round-robin format. All teams face one another and the top two teams qualify for the Asia Cup finals to be played on September 11, Sunday.

Net-run rate (NRR) will be the deciding factor in the game. Teams with the most points and good NRR will have the best chances to play in the finals. Till now, Afghanistan, India and Pakistan have positive net-run-rate while Sri Lanka could not recover from their defeat in the first match.

Asia Cup 2022, Super 4: What are the rules?

Rules are simple for Asia Cup Super 4. The team losing the match will not get any points or lose any points, though NRR will be badly affected after losing with a huge margin.

The winning team will get two points for their victory and better NRR if they finish the match in lesser time and better margin. Though there are low chances of precipitation in UAE, matches with no results will help the team to get one point each.

(Written by Zuhair Zaidi)