India win record-extending 9th Asia Cup title, beat Pakan five wickets in thrilling final | Cricket News

India beat Pakan five wickets in a thriller of a final to win their ninth Asia Cup title. In a match that went right down to the last over, Tilak Varma finished unbeaten on 69 off 53 balls while Rinku Singh hit the winning runs with a four off the only ball he faced all tournament long. Earlier, Kuldeep Yadav’s four-wicket haul helped India bundle out Pakan for just 146 runs.
However, India themselves were off to a disastrous start with the bat in their chase and had to abandon their big-hitting ways to stop the early collapse that they suffered. It was Tilak and Sanju Samson who first gave India some stability with the bat. They had lost three wickets in the first three, including the in-form Abhishek Sharma. Samson and Tilak put up a partnership of 57 off 50 balls.
Samson was dismissed Abrar Ahmed in the 13th over after which Tilak found another steady partner in Shivam Dube, who scored 33 in 22 balls. Dube was dismissed off the last ball of the 19th over, thus bringing Rinku, who had not played any of the previous games in the tournament, into the middle with India needing 10 to win off the last six balls. Tilak was on strike and he ran two off the first ball. Tilak then smashed the second ball over deep square leg for a six after which he took a single to tie the scores. Rinku then hit the fourth ball over mid-on.
To be updated…