Sri Lanka’s batter Bhanuka Rajapaksa rated his 71 runs knock against Pakistan in the Asia Cup final as one of the best innings he has played in his career. Rajapaksa came out to the middle when Sri Lanka was struggling at 36-3 after 5.1 overs at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium on Sunday.

However, the left-hander batted at the top of his game and timed the ball to perfection. In fact, Sri Lanka was on the ropes at 58-5 after 8.5 overs but Rajapaksa added a crucial alliance of 58 runs with Wanindu Hasaranga.

At one stage, it looked like Sri Lanka will struggle to get to 150 runs but Rajapaksa and Hasaranga got their team out of the troubled waters. The left-hander scored six fours and three sixes in his blistering knock and scored at an impressive strike rate of 157.78.

The pressure was high on Sri Lanka but Rajapaksa played a crucial knock to help his team post 170 runs on the board. Thus, he was awarded the Player of the Match.

“Of course, it’s a wonderful moment and one of the best innings that I’ve played in a very short period of time,” Rajapaksa said in the post-match press conference.

Meanwhile, Sri Lanka was always a force to reckon with but the team has seen some difficult times in the recent past. Furthermore, the country has been going through a financial crisis and Rajapaksa is hopeful that this Asia Cup triumph will put a smile on the faces of their people.

“We wanted to show the world… A couple of decades back, we had some sort of aggression in our side. And we wanted to create those moments again. I think as a unit we’re doing it fantastically well at the moment and we just want to look forward to the World Cup as well and to keep up this momentum,” Rajapaksa said.

“As a nation, I think it is a great win with all the crises happening back home. These are tough times for Sri Lankans and we are glad and we hope we brought some smiles to their faces,” he added.