Daily Times

The stage is set, with the Asia Cup 2023 set to determine which team will join India in the tournament’s final. Rohit Sharma’s team won the Super 4s with two convincing victories over Pakistan and Sri Lanka. Pakistan and Sri Lanka are the other two competitors, while Bangladesh has already been dropped. Rain has hampered the early plans of Asia Cup teams. But what if the Super 4 match between Sri Lanka and Pakistan is also called off?

The Asian Cricket Council had set aside a reserve day for the India-Pakistan Super 4 match, but there is no such arrangement in place for the Sri Lanka-Pakistan match. The match between Sri Lanka and Pakistan would have to be decided by a 20-over-per-side contest on Thursday.

What happens if rain washes out play?

Rain has already affected numerous matches in the Asia Cup 2023, and it very well may do so again for the Pakistan vs. Sri Lanka Super 4 match on Thursday in Colombo.

It should be noted that in the event of a total washout, the Sri Lankan team would advance to the final because they had a higher Net Run Rate than Pakistan.

Even though Sri Lanka and Pakistan both currently have two points, they are ranked second in the Super 4 points standings. There has been one win and one loss for each team. The magnitude of Pakistan’s results, however, has them in third place with a lower Net Run Rate than their Super 4 rivals.

The NRR for Sri Lanka is -0.200, while the NRR for Pakistan is -1.892. Pakistan must therefore play today in order to advance to the final, and defeating Sri Lanka is the only way to do so.

It should also be noted that there has never been an Asia Cup final between India and Pakistan, arguably the game’s two most bitter rivals.

India is through to the title decider because of their perfect performance in the Super 4 stage and will look to add to their Asia Cup title tally (in the ODI format) of 7. Meanwhile, Sri Lanka has five titles in the 50-over format, while Pakistan has won the tournament twice.