India sealed their final berth after Back to back win in the Super Four when they defeated Sri Lanka on Tuesday but the second team yet to be finalized and a tough equation keep both Pakistan and Sri Lanka on the race with almost equal chance.
The defeat of Sri Lanka against India set Pakistan back but they are not out of race.
But there is best chance India will have Sri Lanka in the final as Sri Lanka are in better position than Pakistan.
Both the Pakistan and Sri Lanka earned two points form as many matches with same one win and one loss but in run rate Sri Lanka (-0.200) are ahead of Pakistan (-1.892).
Now the real picture is, after India cement their final berth and Bangladesh out of contention, the winners of the Pakistan vs Sri Lanka game on Thursday will face India in Sunday's final. In case of a washout on Thursday, the team with the better net run-rate between Pakistan and Sri Lanka will make the final.
For Pakistan to surpass India's NRR, they would need to close a gap of about 300 runs. They have a better chance of overtaking Sri Lanka on that front.
Pakistan will qualify for the final if they will beat Sri Lanka on Thursday but will be eliminated if they will lose. India will join Pakistan in the final even if they lose to Bangladesh - because of a superior NRR - and can even afford to lose by more than 200 runs.
If the fixtures on Thursday will abandoned, then Sri Lanka will qualify for the final, and India will join them as long as they don't lose to Bangladesh by more than 300 runs. And if both the two matches from here on are called off, it will be an India vs Sri Lanka final.
Meanwhile, captain Rohit Sharma with the bat and Kuldeep Yadav steered India to confirm their final berth of the Asia Cup 2023 after defeating Sri Lanka by 41 runs on Tuesday.
Weealage’s all round performance with five wickets with the ball and valuable 42 runs team highest went in vain as Sri Lanka failed to chase 214 runs to win the match when Rohit Sharma’s Rohit Sharma’s 53 runs (also team’s highest) and Kuldeep Yadav’s four wickets helped India to win.
Agencies add
On a surface where India picked three frontline spinners and lost all ten of their wickets to spin for the first time in ODIs, it was the quality of their fast bowlers that made the telling difference. Defending 214, India had Sri Lanka three down before bowling a single ball of spin, and that had repercussions that rippled through the rest of the game.
Dhananjaya de Silva and Dunith Wellalage brought Sri Lanka's equation down to 52 from 82 balls with a partnership of brisk partnership of 63 but crucially in the context of this game the stand came with very little batting to follow. Even as their spinners struggled to exert control over this pair, India knew that one wicket would open up the lower order.
When India did so, they wrapped up a 41-run win, a misleading margin in a contest full of tension, also sealing a place in the Asia Cup final while ending Bangladesh's chances. Sri Lanka's winning streak ended at 13 ODIs, but Wellalage, all of 20 and playing just his 13th ODI, remained proudly undefeated at the finish. He was unbeaten having top-scored with a fluent and precociously composed 42, and it was his less significant contribution to the match; he had looked unplayable at times while taking his maiden five-for earlier in the day, each of his victims a member of India's top six.
