Thriller spinner, a hundredth century notorious in Karachi evening, tie with out Super Over: 5 traditional Asia Cup matches

With cricket combating a battle of identification between worldwide sports activities and franchise leagues, the relevance of the competitors is probably not the identical, however scrolling again the pages of historical past, one is bound to seek out a few of the most notable video games within the historical past of the game. Here’s our rundown of 5 traditional Asia Cup matches, ranked in no explicit order.

(For the sake of selection, we’ve not included the final 5 India-Pakistan Asia Cup clashes, which we’ve lined in a separate piece)

India vs Sri Lanka 2004, Colombo: Sri Lanka could not have been as massive a event staff as in 1996 or so long as it was within the years to come back, however the hosts of the 2004 Asia Cup nonetheless had a powerful lineup led by Maravan Atapattu. India had been in fact World Cup runners-up solely a 12 months in the past, with the correct mix of thrilling youth and expertise below the management of Sourav Ganguly.

Driven by half-centuries from skipper Virender Sehwag and Yuvraj Singh, India posted a complete of 272 runs for the hosts. It was Sanath Jayasuriya who helped the Lankans within the chase along with his century in opposition to falling wickets, placing his aspect 19 runs away from a win. With 11 runs wanted from the ultimate over, Zaheer Khan conceded simply six runs for India to win the match. A defeat was finally avenged by Sri Lanka after they beat India to carry the trophy in entrance of their residence followers.

India vs Sri Lanka 2008, Karachi: Another assembly two or 4 years later, in one other ultimate of the Asia Cup, noticed the rise of a Sri Lankan hero whom Indian followers hardly knew earlier than, however would always remember later. But first, what a refresher the scenario was. Batting first, Sri Lanka had been bowled out for 273, which was not a lot totally different from the scorecard with Sanath Jayasuriya scoring one other century in Colombo in 2004. India had chased down a goal of 309 in opposition to Sri Lanka on the similar floor three nights in the past, with six wickets to spare and 19 balls to spare.

But the 2007 World Cup finalist had a thriller spinner by the title of Ajantha Mendis. In his eight-over spell, the 23-year-old broke the Indian batting order by dismissing Virender Sehwag, Suresh Raina, Yuvraj Singh, Rohit Sharma, Irfan Pathan and RP Singh, leaving India all out for 173 runs.

Bangladesh vs India 2012, Mirpur: The lengthy wait of over a 12 months got here to an finish as Sachin Tendulkar grew to become the primary participant to attain 100 worldwide a whole bunch. However, the innings can be discredited by the end result of the match. India may handle solely 289 runs of their quota of fifty overs.

Driven by half-centuries from Tamim Iqbal, Zahrul Islam and Nasser Hussain, the hosts pulled off one of many greatest upsets within the historical past of the competitors with a five-wicket victory. The finish of the match can be the distinction between the staff going into the ultimate with Bangladesh, the latter defeating Sri Lanka, and establishing the ultimate in opposition to Pakistan.

Pakistan vs Bangladesh 2012, Mirpur: The hosts, the finalists, Bangladesh Cricket had the chance to make the Asia Cup 2012 much more exceptional and their first main worldwide title in entrance of a house crowd. 235 was the full set by Pakistan. With each Tamim Iqbal and Shakib Al Hasan scoring half-centuries, Bangladesh appeared set to defeat the one staff that was not within the competitors and appeared to carry the trophy.

With eight off the final six balls and three wickets in hand, issues didn’t look unhealthy until the tip. Ejaz Cheema conceded solely six runs and Pakistan ruined Bangladesh’s evening with a two-run win. Player of the event Shakib Al Hasan mentioned, “If I had scored two more runs we would have won the match, we would have come so close to winning the Asia Cup.”

India vs Afghanistan 2018, Dubai: Having already booked their tickets for the ultimate, India made a number of adjustments for his or her ultimate Super 4 recreation in opposition to Afghanistan, together with the captain. MS Dhoni went to toss for the two hundredth and final time in his ODI profession. But it was hardly the guard who stole the sunshine. Mohammad Shahzad’s century took the Afghans to 252.

His tougher chase ended for India. With KL Rahul (60), Ambati Rayudu (52) and Dinesh Karthik (44) scoring many of the runs within the high three, the center and decrease center order had simply 45 runs off the final 60 balls. Rashid Khan and co. Did an unimaginable job of preserving Ravindra Jadeja and MS Dhoni until the tip. And with Rashid needing seven within the ultimate over, India may solely handle six. For higher or worse, there was no Super Over and the match led to a tie.