A fitting SL-Pak finale today

Both the Sri Lanka captain and his Pakistan counterpart said that they expect to walk out of the final of the Emerging Teams Asia Cup at the Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium in Chittagong today as champions.

Sri Lanka will certainly feel that they have the edge, having beaten hosts Bangladesh in the first semifinal by a hefty margin of eight wickets with Asitha Fernando claiming a hattrick. And so, their captain Angelo Perera exuded confidence going into the final.

"Sri Lanka are favourites," Perera declared when a reporter asked him about his team's chances in Chittagong yesterday.

"I think everybody has done well so far, Charith [Asalanka] and Sadeera [Samarawickrama] have been in great form and Asitha and Amila [Aponso] have been good with the ball. The final is a totally different game. So maybe someone who has not done anything might rise up. We hope everyone will chip in and contribute towards a win."

When queried if he was concerned about Pakistan's attacking style of cricket, he responded: "We have been playing aggressive cricket as well so we'll be taking them on. We don't intend to play defensive. We'll be attacking from ball one and looking to go head-on."

However, while not willing to bear the brunt of the favourites tag, Pakistan captain Mohammad Rizwan said his side would do their utmost to finish on a high.

"Look, they are in the final because they played good cricket. We are also here because we played good cricket. If they give 100 percent then we will give 110 percent," Rizwan said.

"When we were leaving Pakistan [for the tournament], we reminisced about our loss in the Asia Cup. This time we have come with the expectations of becoming champions and we will hopefully become champions."

Pakistan have a very high-profile line-up, featuring Haris Sohail, Bilal Asif and Hammad Azam who have represented the senior side in the ODIs, while the captain himself featured in one Test, against New Zealand last year.

Pakistan have one concern in the form of injured Imamul Haq -- who will undergo a fitness test before the match -- but Rizwan said his side have more than enough firepower to make up for any absences.

“If we play like we played the last semfinal then even if he [Imam] fails to recover then we can make up for that because the condition of the team is so good."