Asia Cup 2023 Final Stats: Siraj surpasses Waqar’s feat; Sri Lanka register lowest ODI total against India

Mohammed Siraj led from the front with a devastating spell as India bowled Sri Lanka out for a paltry 50 after the latter opted to bat in the final of the 2023 Asia Cup in Colombo.

India would later chase down the target in a little over six overs to be crowned Asia Cup champions for a record-extending eighth time, sending out a warning to rival teams ahead of next month’s ICC World Cup that takes place in their backyard.

While pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah drew first blood for the Men in Blue in the summit clash at Colombo’s R Premadasa Stadium on Sunday, removing Kusal Perera in the third delivery of the innings, it was Siraj’s second over that truly turned the game on its head.

. . !

A clinical show in the summit clash!

A resounding 10-wicket win to clinch the #AsiaCup2023 title

Well done, #TeamIndia! #INDvSL pic.twitter.com/M9HnJcVOGR

— BCCI (@BCCI) September 17, 2023

Siraj would strike four times in a space of six deliveries in a stunning second over, getting rid of opener Pathum Nissanka (2), Sadeera Samarawickrama (0), Charith Asalanka (0) and Dhananajaya de Silva (4). The Hyderabadi pacer, who has surged ahead of Mohammed Shami as Bumrah’s new-ball partner in the white-ball formats, was even on a hat-trick after getting rid of Samarawickrama and Asalanka in successive deliveries.

Siraj would complete his five-for in his following over by castling Sri Lanka skipper Dasun Shanaka, reducing the Lankans to 13/6 with the six-time Asian champions in danger of getting bowled out for the lowest ODI total ever.

Read | Siraj blows away SL batters in Asia Cup final with record-making spell

He later got wicketkeeper-batter Kusal Mendis caught-behind for 17 just when the latter was starting to collect some valuable runs to join the elite list of Indian bowlers with six-wicket hauls in ODIs.

In the end, the Sri Lankans managed to go past the 50-mark, thanks primarily to Mendis’ 17. Seam-bowling all-rounder Hardik Pandya later joined the party by polishing off the tail.

He got Dunith Wellalage, Sri Lanka’s standout performer in their Super Four meeting against India, caught-behind for 8 in his third delivery of the day. He would then bring Sri Lanka’s innings to a close by removing Pramod Madushan and Matheesha Pathirana in successive deliveries in the 16th over of the innings.

Wicketkeeper-batter Ishan Kishan would then walk out begin India’s chase alongside Shubman Gill, who had struck a majestic 121 in a losing cause against Bangladesh on Friday. The two hardly broke a sweat during their brief stay at the crease, with Gill setting the tone in the very first over with a boundary off Pramod Madushan.

Kishan would then collect back-to-back fours in the next over, bowled by Matheesha Pathirana, while Gill collected a hat-trick of fours in Madushan’s next over to put the result of the final beyond any doubt.

Kishan would collect the winning run with a single off Charith Asalanka at the start of the seventh over, as the Men in Blue pulled off one of their most dominant victories ever across formats.

It goes without saying that the Indians, especially Siraj, achieved a few milestones with their scintillating performance on Sunday. We take a look at some of those numbers in our statistical roundup:

— Sri Lanka’s score of 50 is their lowest total ever against India in ODIs. It is also their second-lowest total of all time after their 43 against South Africa in 2012.

— Mohammed Siraj’s figures of 6/21 are the fourth-best by an Indian in ODIs. Stuart Binny (6/4), Anil Kumble (6/12) and Jasprit Bumrah (6/19) are ahead of him in that list.

— Siraj’s figures are also the best against Sri Lanka in ODIs, surpassing Pakistan pace great Waqar Younis’ 6/26.

— Siraj’s figures of 6/21 are also the best by a fast bowler in the history of the Asia Cup.

Least matches taken to pick 6-fer for India in ODIs

3 – Binny
13 – Sreesanth
20 – Mishra
21 – Kuldeep
29 – Siraj*
33 – Nehra
34 – M Karthik
35 – Chahal
36 – Kumble
71 – Bumrah
122 – Agarkar

— Cricbaba (@thecricbaba) September 17, 2023

— This is also only the second time in Asia Cup (ODI) history that all 10 wickets have gone to pacers. The last time this happened was earlier in this edition, during Pakistan’s Group A clash against India in Pallekele.

— The India-Sri Lanka final is the third shortest One-Day International in terms of deliveries bowled. Sunday’s final lasted just 129 deliveries. The record belongs to the Nepal vs USA game in February 2020 that lasted just 104 balls.

— This is India’s biggest win in ODIs in terms of balls remaining. They had 263 deliveries to spare against Sri Lanka today compared to 231 against Kenya in 2001.

— Just 101 runs were scored in today’s final, the lowest in ODIs between India and Sri Lanka.