ODI Asia Cup: 5 Unforgettable Nail-Biting Matches

The Asia Cup began in 1984 and to date, we have seen some brilliant games. The next edition takes place later this year. The competitive spirit is certainly on show as six teams will fight this year with the end goal of being crowned the Asian champions.

On occasions, it takes one player to turn the game around. It could be as simple as one over of a batsman teeing off, a sudden burst of wickets, or a final-over showdown. We look into the history books of the Asia Cup and list 5 nail-biting thrillers below which would have certainly made our hearts skip many beats,.

5.     India vs Sri Lanka, 2004, India won by 4 runs

This edition of the Asia Cup was hosted by Sri Lanka, who were trying to take advantage of home conditions to register their third title win. July was the month, and the match took place in the midst of a Sri Lankan summer. Both teams consisted of strong performers which featured a young Irfan Pathan and Lasith Malinga to name a few. Sourav Ganguly was leading India while Marvan Atapattu led Sri Lanka. Sri Lanka had won the toss and put India to bat first.

India made 271/6 in 50 overs. Key contributors from India included Virender Sehwag (81), Sourav Ganguly (79). Yuvraj Singh steadied India in the middle overs after Rahul Dravid got out but couldn’t kick on after making 50. 20 extras given by Sri Lanka didn’t help them but Sri Lanka’s slower bowlers enabled India to be limited to 271. In Sri Lanka’s response, their batting was to be centered around the brilliance of Sanath Jayasuriya. Jayasuriya received some luck along the way with edges going between fielders. India’s occasional lapses in ground fielding aided Sri Lanka’s chase however India’s catching was still of top quality. Like Sri Lanka, India gave away far too many extras, that being 26.

The chase was still on, but Sri Lankan wickets kept falling. Jayasuriya kept going. His mammoth innings of 130 was aided with Tillakaratne Dilshan’s 39. Virender Sehwag (3-37) got both batters out leaving Sri Lanka at 254/7. Sri Lanka then needed 18 from 17. Irfan Pathan (2-34) and Zaheer Khan (2-63) successfully closed the match and India secured a win.