Sri Lanka cricketers receive grand welcome on return after winning Asia Cup 2022; See pics

The Sri Lankan cricket team defeated Pakistan to win the latest edition of the Asia Cup on Sunday. Sri Lanka beat Pakistan by 23 runs to win their sixth Asia Cup title and first since 2014. On Tuesday, the Dasun Shanaka-led side participated in a massive victory parade after reaching their home country to celebrate their win with the fans. Sri Lankan team took to its official Twitter handle to share pictures of the parade. 

Asia Cup 2022: Sri Lankan players receive grand welcome

In the photos, Sri Lankan players can be seen touring the city in a double-decker bus while being surrounded by a sea of supporters. The players interacted with the crowd and expressed gratitude to them for their support throughout the tournament even during the ongoing economic crisis in the country. "Snapshots from the #AsiaCup victory parade," Sri Lanka Cricket wrote in the caption of the post. The post has garnered more than 5,600 likes since being shared earlier this morning. 

The Sri Lanka team played some incredible cricket throughout the tournament except for the first match against Afghanistan, in which they lost by a huge margin. Sri Lanka defeated teams like India, Bangladesh, Pakistan, and Afghanistan in the competition to reach the final of the Asia Cup 2022. The Lankan lions were involved in at least three close games that went down to the last ball. 

Pakistan vs Sri Lanka

As far as the final is concerned, Pakistan captain Babar Azam won the toss and elected to bowl first. Sri Lanka sustained a few early blows, losing three wickets in the powerplay. Dhananjaya de Silva and Bhanuka Rajapaksa steadied Sri Lanka's innings with scores of 28 and an unbeaten 71 runs, respectively. Hasaranga scored 36 off 21 balls to contribute to Sri Lanka's total. The island nation eventually finished the innings with a score of 170/6 in 20 overs. 

The second innings saw Pakistan lose two wickets in the powerplay. Rizwan and Iftikhar Ahmed then forged a crucial partnership before the latter was dismissed for 32 off 31 balls. The only double-digit score that came after Iftikhar's innings was from Haris Rauf, who scored 13 off 9 balls. Pramod Madushan Liyanagamage picked four wickets, while Hasaranga scalped three wickets to his name. Rajapaksa was named the player of the match for his outstanding knock. 

Image: Twitter/SLC