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'Conquered Asia, now time to conquer the world' - Fans ecstatic as India thrash Sri Lanka by 10-wickets to clinch 8th Asia Cup title

Fans are elated as India beat Sri Lanka by 10 wickets in the 2023 Asia Cup final to lift the coveted title for the eighth time.

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Daniel S
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India vs SL, Asia Cup 2023 final

IND vs SL Asia Cup 2023 final (Source: Twitter)

India became the Asian champions after five years with a dominant win over Sri Lanka at the R.Premadasa Stadium in Colombo on Sunday, September 17. India and Mohammed Siraj, who blew away the Lankan batting unit with a six-wicket haul, literally stunned the home team with a 10-wicket win, a pure one-sided affair. With eight Asia Cup titles, the Men in Blue remain the most successful Asian side and announced their arrival in the ODI World Cup with a bang.

Sri Lanka captain Dasun Shanaka opted to bowl first hoping to put India under pressure, given the overcast conditions in Colombo. However, Rohit Sharma was confident of their bowlers, who can provide an "aggressive" start with the ball. The Indian skipper's plan worked as Jasprit Bumrah gave the first breakthrough by dismissing Kusal Perera for a duck in just three balls.

The rest of the show belonged to Mohammed Siraj who rocked the Lankan batting unit in one go. The right-arm pacer's first over was a maiden and in the very next over, he went on to pick up four wickets - the first Indian to take four wickets in a single over. Siraj claimed the wickets of Pathum Nissanka, Sadeera Samarawickrama, Charith Asalanka and Dhananjaya de Silva to reduce Sri Lanka to 12 for 5 in four overs.

A flurry of records were broken in this final

The game was done and dusted for Sri Lanka, but Siraj wasn't done - he picked up captain Dasun Shanaka's wicket in his next over to complete a fifer within 15 balls! The 29-year-old finished his dream spell with a record 6/21 - the fourth-best figure by an Indian bowler in ODI history. The finishing touch to Sri Lanka's batting innings was done by Hardik Pandya, who took three wickets and bundled them for their lowest-ever score in ODIs against India.

A target of 51 was just a walk in the park for India and Ishan Kishan was sent in place of Rohit Sharma to open alongside Shubman Gill. The two young men were in a hurry to finish the game and get into the celebrations. India crossed the finish line with 263 balls to spare, their biggest win in terms of balls remaining and biggest overall win in an ODI final (balls remaining).

Here's how fans reacted to India winning the Asia Cup for the eighth time:

India Sri lanka Asia Cup 2023