Asia Cup-Records

Asia cup is one of few multi country cricket tournament that has been played enough number of times to have it's own set of records. There have been 10 Asia cup tournaments over the years and asian cricket council seems determined to continue to tradition. Note that we've had two asia cup test series as well, won by Pakistan and Sri Lanka back in year 1999 and 2001 respectively but we may not see another one any time soon. Asia cup cricket is mainly about one day cricket and here are the record holders so far..

Highest score by a batsman

Virat Kohli made thrilling 183 against arch rivals Pakistan when India need to win at any cost, overhauling 144 by Younus Khan which came at a tricky time when baby team Hong Kong had taken 2 early wickets. Younus' 3rd wicket partnership with Shoaib Mallik (who too scored a ton) fetched 223 runs. Highest by a Sri Lankan batsman in Asia cup is 131 notout by Arjuna Ranatunga.

Highest individual scores in Asia cup tournaments.
Batsman (country)	Score	Balls	4s	6s	Versus	Venue	Date
Virat Kohli (India)	183	148	22	1	Pakistan	Mirpur	18 Mar 2012
Younus Khan (Pak)	144	122	8	3	Hong Kong	Colombo	18 Jul 2004
Shoaib Mallik (Pak)	143	127	18	1	India	Colombo	25 Jul 2004
Virat Kohli (India)	136	122	16	2	Bangladesh	Fatullah	26 Feb 2014
Sourav Ganguly (India)	135*	124	6	7	Bangladesh	Dhaka	30 May 2000
Arjuna Ranatunga (SL)	131*	152	17	0	India	Colombo	18 Jul 1997

Highest team totals

Pakistan hold the record with their mountainous 385/7 against Bangladesh in 2010 season. Shahid Afridi scored 124 from 60 balls while Shahzaib Hasan, Imran Farhat and Umar Akmal contributed half centuries. Pakistan overhauled India's record who had humiliated Hong Kong in 2008, beating minnows by 256 runs. MS Dhoni (109*), Suresh Raina (101), Virendra Sehwag (78) and Gautam Gambhir (51) were main contributors that day.

Country	Total	Ovs	Inn	Versus	Venue	Date
Pakistan	385/7	50.0	1st	Bangladesh	Dambulla	21 Jun 2010
India	374/4	50.0	1st	Hong Kong	Karachi	25 Jun 2008
Sri Lanka	357/9	50.0	1st	Bangladesh	Lahore	25 Jun 2008
Pakistan	343/5	50.0	1st	Hong Kong	Colombo	18 Jul 2004
Sri Lanka	332/8	50.0	1st	Bangladesh	Karachi	20 Jun 2008

Lowest team totals

Chasing 321, hosts Bangladesh were allout for 87, with only two batsmen = Habibul Bashar (23) and Mushfiqur Rahim (11) reaching double figures with Shahadat Hossain unavailable to bat, and hence allout.

Country	Total	Ovs	Inn	Versus	Venue	Date
Bangladesh	87/9	34.2	2nd	Pakistan	Dhaka	2 Jun 2000
Bangladesh	94/10	35.3	1st	Pakistan	Moratuwa	31 Mar 1986
Sri Lanka	96/10	41.0	1st	India	Sharjah	8 Apr 1984
Bangladesh	99/8	45.0	1st	India	Chittagong	27 Oct 1988
Hong Kong	105/10	45.2	2nd	Bangladesh	Colombo	16 Jul 2004

Best bowling

Ajantha Mendis is the only bowler to take 6 wickets in an innings of an Asia cup cricket match, doing it against India in the finals of 2008 tournament. Mendis was awarded man of the match as well series that day.

Best bowling performances in Asia cup tournaments.
Bowler (country)	Wkts	Runs	Overs	Versus	Venue	Date
Ajantha Mendis (SL)	6	13	8.0	India	Karachi	6 Jul 2008
Aaqib Javed (Pak)	5	19	9.0	India	Sharjah	7 Apr 1995
Arshad Ayub (India)	5	21	9.0	Pakistan	Dhaka	31 Oct 1988
Ajantha Mendis (SL)	5	22	6.3	UAE	Lahore	26 Jun 2008
Muthiah Muralitharan (SL)	5	21	10	Bangladesh	Karachi	30 Jun 2008
Lasith Malinga (SL)	5	34	10	Pakistan	Dambulla	15 Jun 2010
Saqlain Mushtaq (Pak)	5	38	9.3	Bangladesh	Colombo	16 Jul 1997
Farveez Maharoof (SL)	5	42	10	India	Dambulla	22 Jun 2010
Sohail Tanvir (Pak)	5	48	10	Sri Lanka	Karachi	29 Jun 2008

Highest partnership

in Asia cup tournaments belongs to Pakistani openers Mohammad Hafeez and Nasir Jamshed who put on 224 against rivals India in 2012 edition, yet their team lost. Hafeez and Jamshed bettered the record held by Younus Khan and Shoaib Mallik by one run!

Best partnerships (by wicket) in all asia cups.
Batsmen (country)	P'ship	Wkt	Versus	Venue	Date
Md Hafeez + Nasir Jamshed (Pak)	224	1st	India	Mirpur	18 Mar 2012
Gautam Gambhir + Virat Kohli (Ind)	205	2nd	Sri Lanka	Mirpur	13 Mar 2012
Yousuf Khan + Shoaib Mallik (Pak)	223	3rd	Hong Kong	Colombo	18 Jul 2004
MS Dhoni + Suresh Raina (India)	166	4th	Hong Kong	Karachi	26 Jun 2008
Umar Akmal + Shahid Afridi (Pak)	137	5th	Bangladesh	Dambulla	21 Jun 2010
Alok Kapali + Mahmudullah (Bdesh)	112	6th	India	Karachi	28 Jun 2008
H Tillakaratne + K Dharamsena (SL)	71	7th	India	Sharjah	9 Apr 1995
Fawad Alam + Sohail Tanvir (Pak)	100	8th	Hong Kong	Karachi	24 Jun 2008
Harbhajan Singh + Zaheer Khan (Ind)	46	9th	Sri Lanka	Colombo	1 Aug 2004
Saiful Islam + Anisur Rahman (Bdesh)	25	10th	India	Sharjah	5 Apr 1995

 

More Asia cup records

**Sanath Jayasuriya has made most runs in Asia cups = 1220 runs from 25 games with best score of 130 at an average of over 53 with 6 hundreds & 3 fifties.

**Sri Lanka have played in all 12 previous asia cups, and hence featured in most matches = 40. Lankans also have best win percentage = 72.50 followed by India = 36 played, 22 won, 13 lost = 62.85% success rate, and then Pakistan = 18 wins from 31 games.

**Kapil Dev is only bowler to take a hattrick in asia cup, doing it against Sri Lanka, dismissing Roshan Mahanama, Sanath Jayasuriya and Ramesh Ratnayake.

**Muthiah Muralitharan owns the record of most wickets in asia cup, with 30 wickets from 24 matches at 28.83 a piece with 1 five wicket haul & economy of 3.75.

**Lowest win margin is by India = 4 runs, winning over Sri Lanka at Colombo back in 2004 edition while by wickets, India's 4 wkt victory over Pakistan back in 1988 is the smallest.

**Biggest win margin is by 256 runs, with which India beat minnows Hong Kong in 2008 tournament. There has been 3 ten wicket victories, done once each by India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka, over Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Bangladesh respectively.