Asia Cup 2023 Points Table: Sri Lanka break Afghanistan's heart to reach Super Fours

Sri Lanka on Tuesday became the final team to confirm their place in the Super Four stage of the 2023 Asia Cup with a thrilling two-run win over Afghanistan at Lahore.

Kusal Mendis struck 92 as Sri Lanka made 291/8 batting first at the Gaddafi Stadium, but Afghanistan who faced a do-or-die situation gave a tough competition. To qualify for the Super Fours, Afghanistan needed a better net run rate than Sri Lanka and for that, they needed to complete the chase in 38 overs.

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Rahmat Shah (45), Hashmatullah Shahidi (59) and Mohammad Nabi (65) scored crucial runs in the middle overs before Rashid Khan made 27 not out from the lower order to take Afghanistan close to qualification. However, Dhananjaya de Silva took two wickets in the 38th over to bowl Afghanistan out for 289.

This was Sri Lanka’s second win of the group stage and they qualified to Super Fours as Group B leaders along with Bangladesh

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Pakistan and India have qualified from Group A for the Super Four stage.

The tournament returns to the ODI format this year after having taken place in T20 mode in the UAE in 2022, effectively becoming a precursor to the ICC World Cup that takes place from 5 October to 19 November in India.

Asia Cup 2023: All you need to know

The tournament is also the first in Asia Cup history with matches taking place in multiple nations. While Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has retained the hosting rights for the tournament, quite a few matches including the final had to be moved to Sri Lanka after the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) refused to send the Indian team to Pakistan citing political tensions between the two nations.

With the tournament underway, we bring to you the points table for the group stage as well as the Super Fours:

Group A:

Group B: