Pakistan and their drop catch theory was at it again in the Asia Cup final as Asif Ali and Shadab Khan collided to drop a sitter. The incident refreshed memories of the Saeed Ajmal and Shoaib Malik incident where they made a blunder in an ODI match against West Indies. To make the matters worse, the blunder resulted in a six which was another hard pill to swallow for the Men in Green.
What was the incident?
On the final ball of the penultimate over, Mohammad Hasnain bowled a delivery that came as a surprise for Bhanuka Rajapaksa who triggered his bat. The resulting shot saw the ball go in the air as both Asif Ali and Shadab Khan approached the ball, while it looked like a sitter on the boundary line, both the fielders made a mess of it.
A catch that looked destined for Asif Ali saw Shadab Khan come close and collide with his teammate. The collision resulted in the ball being dropped as both the players were left in agony.
Hard Pill to swallow
The blunder saw the ball drop over the fence and result in a six, which again was a hard pill to swallow for the Pakistan side. Rajapaksa who had reached his fifty in the previous over received a gift-wrapped six and added to his tally.
Shadab Khan had an off day in the field as he was earlier involved in an incident that saw him drop a simple catch. While the second incident was hard to take as he was addressed by the physios as well.
Sri Lanka Comeback after early scare
Asked to bat first, Sri Lanka had a poor start to their innings as they lost Kusal Mendis in the first over. However, they made up for that and reached a score of 170 despite being 58/5 at one stage. Rajapaksa ended with an unbeaten 71 and was the chief architect of the innings.
