The emotional rollercoaster that was Pakistan’s Asia Cup final against Sri Lanka

Pakistan’s cricket team has paralleled the best of the best yet every time they take to the field, our hearts have a field day of their own. Struggling to keep up with the twists and turns, the Asia Cup final against Sri Lanka was another toughie for our internal systems.

With the toss favouring the Green Shirts, the game seemed like an easy win as the Sri Lankan players were bowled out one after the other. It was over a century worth of runs later when the game took a dip for the Pakistani team and things got heated up as they tried to stop the ball from crossing the boundaries. With a 171-run target hovering in the air, the initially excited fans became increasingly tense when captain Babar Azam was out around two overs in.

Despite a game that had our blood pressures going haywire, fans remained glued to their screens, hoping against hope for a turnaround. All of which was, of course, live tweeted. Though Sri Lanka won by 23 runs, one thing is for sure, it was an eventful match.

Shadab Khan garnered a lot of attention this game. Despite wicket-taking and playing through what netizens pointed out to be an ear-bleed, the player had some disappointing moments. His fans still supported him when he dropped a catch.

There was another drop when he clashed with Asif Ali. In his defence, he seemed as disappointed as us, if not more, over the mishap.

Fans came through to back him up against those who lashed out.

On the bright side, there was this meme-worthy moment that put a smile on our faces thanks to him.

Enter the second innings and exited all peace and calm.

Azam and Fakhar Zaman’s consecutive wickets didn’t help matters either.

Twitter users were ready to save this in the drafts, just in case.

All hopes were hooked onto Rizwan’s batting.

Meanwhile chacha had a surprise attack or two up his sleeve.

No matter the outcome, we’ll always have this literally smashing wicket by Haris Rauf.

Has your heart rate settled or are you still recovering from the match like us?