DUBAI: Bhanuka Rajapaksa's unbeaten 71 and Wanindu Hasaranga's key contributions with both and ball fired Sri Lanka to their sixth Asia Cup title with a 23-run win over Pakistan on Sunday.
Fast bowler Pramod Madushan (4-34) and Hasaranga (3-27) shared seven wickets between them to bowl out Pakistan for 147 while chasing 171 in Dubai.
Earlier the left-handed Rajapaksa put on a key 58-run stand for the sixth wicket with Hasaranga, who hit 36, to help Sri Lanka to 170-6 after being in trouble at 58-5.
Sri Lanka, who had to abandon plans to host the competition due to political unrest, bounced back from an embarrassing opening defeat by Afghanistan to win the tournament, a curtain-raiser for next month's T20 World Cup in Australia.
Pakistan skipper Babar Azam won the toss, choosing to field first with nine of the previous 12 matches won by the teams chasing.
But Sri Lanka bucked the trend as the island nation overcame an inspired opening spell of bowling by Pakistan quicks Naseem Shah and Haris Rauf.
Rajapaksa and Hasaranga rebuilt the innings and regularly found the boundary to up the scoring rate.
Rauf dismissed Hasaranga, who hit five fours and one six in his 21-ball knock, caught behind for his 50th T20 wicket to break the dangerous stand.
Rajapaksa kept up the attack and survived a dropped catch by Shadab Khan in the deep, soon reaching his third T20 half-century.
Rajapaksa, who finished the innings with a four and six off Naseem in his 45-ball blitz, and Chamika Karunaratne put on 54 runs to further boost the total.
Dilshan Madushanka bowled a shaky opening over, starting with a no-ball and four wides, but the left-arm quick swiftly made amends.
Playing just his second T20, Madushanka had Azam caught at short fine-leg for five and then bowled Fakhar Zaman for a first-ball duck the following delivery.
Mohammad Rizwan (55) and Iftikhar (32) put together a partnership of 71 but Madushan broke the stand with the wicket of Iftikhar.
Rizwan, who surpassed India's Virat Kohli as the highest run-getter of the tournament with 282, reached his fifty with a six off Chamika Karunaratne but soon fell to Hasaranga's leg-spin and the wheels came off the chase.
Karunaratne got Rauf out on the final ball to trigger Sri Lankan celebrations.
Dropped catches came to haunt Pakistan as at least three chances went begging at the end of the innings.
The victory now puts Sri Lanka one behind India's tally of seven Asia Cup titles. Pakistan have two Asia Cup victories to their name.
Scoreboard from the Asia Cup final: Sri Lanka P. Nissanka c Azam b Rauf 8 K. Mendis b Naseem 0 D. de Silva c and b Iftikhar 28 D. Gunathilaka b Rauf 1 B. Rajapaksa not out 71 D. Shanaka b Shadab 2 W. Hasaranga c Rizwan b Rauf 36 C. Karunaratne not out 14 Extras (b1, lb7, w2) 10 Total (6 wickets, 20 overs) 170 Did not bat: M. Theekshana, P. Madushan, D. Madushanka Fall of wickets: 1-2 (Mendis), 2-23 (Nissanka), 3-36 (Gunathilaka), 4-53 (De Silva), 5-58 (Shanaka), 6-116 (Hasaranga) Bowling: Naseem 4-0-40-1 (w1), Hasnain 4-0-41-0 (w1), Rauf 4-0-29-3, Shadab 4-0-28-1, Iftikhar 3-0-21-1, Nawaz 1-0-3-0 Pakistan (target 171) M. Rizwan c Gunathilaka b Hasaranga 55 B. Azam c Madushanka b Madushan 5 F. Zaman b Madushan 0 I. Ahmed c sub (Bandara) b Madushan 32 M. Nawaz c Madushan b Karunaratne 6 K. Shah c Theekshana b Hasaranga 2 A. Ali b Hasaranga 0 S. Khan c Gunathilaka b Theekshana 8 H. Rauf b Karunaratne 13 N. Shah c Karunaratne b Madushan 4 M. Hasnain not out 8 Extras (nb2, w12) 14 Total (all out, 20 overs) 147 Fall of wickets: 1-22 (Azam), 2-22 (Zaman), 3-93 (Iftikhar), 4-102 (Nawaz), 5-110 (Rizwan), 6-111 (Asif), 7-112 (Khushdil), 8-120 (Shadab), 9-125 (Naseem), 10-147 (Rauf) Bowling: Madushanka 3-0-24-0 (nb1, w4), Theekshana 4-0-25-1 (w1), Madushan 4-0-34-4 (nb1, w3), Hasaranga 4-0-27-3, Karunaratne 4-0-33-2, De Silva 1-0-4-0 Toss: Pakistan Result: Sri Lanka won by 23 runs Umpires: Anil Chaudhary (IND), Masudur Rahman (BAN) TV umpire: Bismillah Jan Shinwari (AFG) Match referee: Andy Pycroft (ZIM)Live updates
Pakistan innings
Sri Lanka win their sixth Asia Cup trophy!
WICKET: Karunaratne bowls Haris Rauf.
Pakistan - 139/9 in 19 overs.
Pakistan - 125/9 in 18.2 overs.
WICKET: Madushan gets Naseem. HE departs for 4.
FOUR: Naseem's outside edge goes for a four.
Pakistan - 120/8 in 18 overs.
WICKET: Shadab Khan departs for 8.
Pakistan - 112/7 in 17 overs.
WICKET: Khushdil Shah departs.
Pakistan - 111/6 in 16.3 overs.
WICKET: Asif Ali departs for a duck.
Pakistan - 110/5 in 16.1 overs.
WICKET: Hasaranga gets an important wicket. Rizwan departs for 55.
Pakistan - 110/4 in 16 overs.
SIX: Rizwan brings up his 50 with a six.
Khushdil Shah walks in.
Pakistan - 102/4 in 15.2 overs.
WICKET: Karunaratne gets Nawaz. He departs for 6.
Pakistan - 101/3 in 15 overs.
Pakistan - 97/3 in 14 overs.
Pakistan - 93/3 in 13.2 overs.
WICKET: Madushan removes Iftikhar. He departs for 32.
Pakistan - 91/2 in 13 overs.
Pakistan - 88/2 in 12 overs.
FOUR: Iftikhar hits Hasaranga for a four over his head.
SIX: Iftikhar hits Hasaranga for a six.
Pakistan - 74/2 in 11 overs.
Pakistan - 68/2 in 10 overs.
Pakistan - 63/2 in 9 overs.
Pakistan - 53/2 in 8 overs.
FOUR: Rizwan pulls Karunaratne for a four.
Pakistan - 43/2 in 7 overs.
FOUR: Iftikhar hits Hasaranga for a four.
Pakistan - 37/2 in 6 overs.
Pakistan - 32/2 in 5 overs.
FOUR: Rizwan slaps Madushanka for a four.
Pakistan - 24/2 in 4 overs.
Pakistan - 22/2 in 3.3 overs.
WICKET: Two on two. Madushan removes Fakhar. He departs for a duck.
Pakistan - 22/1 in 3.2 overs.
WICKET: Madushan takes an important wicket. Babar Azam departs for five.
Pakistan - 20/0 in 3 overs.
FOUR: Rizwan drives Madushanka for a four.
Pakistan - 20/0 in 2.3 overs.
Pakistan - 16/0 in 2 overs.
Pakistan - 12/0 in 1 over.
Madushanka bowls 1 no-ball and 8 wides to start proceedings.
Sri Lanka innings
Sri Lanka - 170/6 in 20 overs.
SIX: Rajapaksa hits over Naseem Shah over cover for a six.
FOUR: Rajapaksa ramps Naseem for a four.
Sri Lanka - 160/6 in 19.4 overs.
Sri Lanka - 155/6 in 19 overs.
SIX: A dropped catch costs Pakistan another six.
Rajapaksa brings up a well-deserved 50.
Sri Lanka - 147/6 in 18 overs.
Four: 4 leg byes.
Sri Lanka - 136/6 in 17 overs.
SIX: Another six. Karunaratne joins the party and hits Naseem for another six,
SIX: Rajapaksa deposits Naseem for a six over deep backward square leg.
Sri Lanka - 120/6 in 16 overs.
Sri Lanka - 117/6 in 15 overs.
WICKET: Haris Rauf gets his man. Hasarange departs for 36.
FOUR: Two back-to-back boundaries for Hasaranga.
FOUR: Hasaranga thumps Rauf for a four.
Sri Lanka - 106/5 in 14 overs.
Sri Lanka - 104/5 in 13.2 overs
FOUR: Rajapaksa hits Shadab over his head for a four.
100 up for Sri Lanka in 13.1 overs.
Sri Lanka - 99/5 in 13 overs.
SIX: Hasaranga cuts Hasnain for a maximum.
Sri Lanka - 90/5 in 12.3 overs.
Four: Hasaranga drives Hasnain for a four.
Sri Lanka - 85/5 in 12 overs.
Four: Rajapaksa late-cuts Iftikhar for a four.
Sri Lanka - 77/5 in 11 overs.
Four: Hasaranga cuts Shadab for a boundary.
Four: Rajapaksa hits Shadab over cover for a boundary.
Sri Lanka - 67/5 in 10 overs.
Sri Lanka - 62/5 in 9 overs
Four: Hasaranga opens his account with a boundary.
Sri Lanka - 58/5 in 8.5 overs
WICKET: Shadab bowls Shanaka. He departs for just 2 runs.
Sri Lanka - 55/4 in 8 overs.
WICKET: de Silva was caught and bowled by Iftikhar Ahmed.
50 up for Sri Lanka in 7.2 overs
Four: Iftikhar's off-spin takes Rajapaksa's outside edge, but runs away for a boundary.
Sri Lanka - 47/3 in 7 overs.
Sri Lanka - 42/3 in 6 overs.
Four: Rajapaksa opens the account with a boundary.
Sri Lanka - 36/3 in 5.1 overs
WICKET: Haris Rauf hits the timber. Gunathilaka goes for a duck.
Sri Lanka - 36/2 in 5 overs.
Four: de Silva drives Hasnain for another four.
Sri Lanka - 28/2 in 4 overs.
Four: de Silva comes out of the shell with a boundary.
Sri Lanka - 23/2 in 3.2 overs.
WICKET: Haris Rauf gets in-form Nissanka. He departs for 8.
Sri Lanka - 23/1 in 3 overs
Four: Nissanka drives Naseem for four.
Sri Lanka - 16/1 in 2 overs
Expensive over for Pakistan. Hasnain concedes 12 runs.
Dhananjaya de Silva scores two boundaries off Hasnain.
Sri Lanka - 4/1 in 1 over.
Sri Lanka - 2/1 in 0.3 overs.
WICKET: Naseem Shah sends Kusal Mendis for a first-ball duck.
TOSS: Pakistan win the toss and decide to bowl first.
India and Afghanistan were knocked in the Super Four round, while Hong Kong and Bangladesh failed to advance from their respective groups.
Pakistan and Sri Lanka, both facing economic calamities at home, have outshone the competition and even had a dress rehearsal for their final battle on Friday. Sri Lanka outclassed Pakistan in their last Super Four round match, gaining a slight psychological edge. They bowled out Pakistan for just 121 runs and then chased down the target comfortably in 17 overs with 5 wickets to spare.
Team updates
Sri Lanka are unchanged in the final game.
High hopes for underdogs Sri Lanka in Asia Cup final against Pakistan
Pakistan have made two changes for the final with Naseem Shah and Shadab Khan, both rested for the last game, returning to the side in place of Hasan Ali and Usman Qadir.
Teams
Pakistan: 1 Babar Azam (capt), 2 Mohammad Rizwan (wk), 3 Fakhar Zaman, 4 Iftikhar Ahmed, 5 Khushdil Shah, 6 Shadab Khan, 7 Asif Ali, 8 Mohammad Nawaz, 9 Naseem Shah, 10 Haris Rauf, 11 Mohammad Hasnain.
Sri Lanka: 1 Kusal Mendis (wk), 2 Pathum Nissanka, 3 Dhananjaya de Silva, 4 Danushka Gunathilaka, 5 Dasun Shanaka (capt), 6 Bhanuka Rajapaksa, 7 Chamika Karunaratne, 8 Wanindu Hasaranga, 9 Maheesh Theekshana, 10 Pramod Madushan, 11 Dilshan Madushanka