The 2025 Asia Cup is getting interesting and exciting as the league has reached a crucial stage where the win of any team can affect the qualification in the final or elimination from the tournament.
In this context, Sri Lanka’s loss in the Super Fours match against Pakistan on September 23 has added another blow for them as they now have to rely on other games to stay alive in the tournament.
Here’s the detailed scenario of how Sri Lanka can still stay in the tournament.
Sri Lanka’s Elimination Scenario
Sri Lanka’s hope of defending the Asia Cup trophy is going downhill after they were defeated by Pakistan in the second game of the Super Four stage, played at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium. With this, Sri Lanka has lost two consecutive matches — one against Bangladesh on September 20, and another against Pakistan on September 23.
During the match against Pakistan, Sri Lanka was positioned in with the do-or-die situation, but unfortunately, they were not able to convert that winning spirit into a victory after they were restricted to 133 runs in 20 overs. Sri Lanka’s batting unit was miserably dominated by Pakistan’s bowling attack. In the second innings, Pakistan batted better with calm gameplay as they easily won the game by 5 wickets, that too in the 18th over of the game. Sri Lankan bowlers tried their best in defending the target and picked wickets in the crucial situation.
SUGGESTED READ: Coming Off Defeats, Pak vs Sri Meet In a Do-or-Die Asia Cup Super Fours
The duo spinner, Maheesh Theekshana and Wanindu Hasaranga, picked two wickets each, but Hussain Talat’s undefeated 32 runs off 30 balls led Pakistan to victory, keeping the hope alive of facing India in the final of the 2025 Asia Cup.
Despite all these talks, Sri Lanka’s elimination from the 2025 Asia Cup is still the talk of the town since they are now at the bottom of the points table following two losses in the Super Four matches. They will be forced to exit the tournament even before they face India next on Friday (September 26) in Dubai, unless Bangladesh stuns India. Similarly, if Bangladesh defeats India, the battle of the Super Fours will be left open, and this will leave mathematical possibilities of all four teams being alive. Pakistan and India would still require victories in their respective final matches to ensure qualification.
How can Sri Lanka still remain in the tournament?
To qualify, Sri Lanka must hope that the Tigers win both their matches and that they win against India. In such a case, the 2022 champions will be tied with three other teams, namely India and Pakistan, with NRR deciding which team advances to the final match on the summit.
Here is an X post:
Extremely difficult for Sri Lanka to qualify for the final from here #AsiaCup2025 pic.twitter.com/KuJDOx2JeO
— ESPNcricinfo (@ESPNcricinfo) September 24, 2025
Amit Mishra’s Take
As a cricket enthusiast, I am finding the 2025 Asia Cup to be super exciting, as the tournament has reached the final stage, where any team could qualify for the finals, while any team could be eliminated. Sri Lanka’s two consecutive losses were a major setback since they now have to sit and watch, waiting for others’ results to stay alive in the tournament. Following the loss against Pakistan, they are now relying on Bangladesh, hoping they can upset two powerful cricketing nations, India and Pakistan.
The equation is simple for them; if the Tiger wins both the matches against India and Pakistan, they stay in the 2025 Asia Cup, while a loss could leave Sri Lanka on the elimination side.
YOU MIGHT READ: Pakistan Beats Sri Lanka in Asia Cup Super Four Clash
