Sri Lanka advanced their steps into the finals of the Asia Cup 2023 last night after trashing Pakistan from the tournament. Sri Lanka chased down the 252-run target with two wickets in hand. A stunning knock from Kusal Mendis helped his team progress toward the final clash against India. Kusal Mendis anchored the run chase smartly as the batter capitalized on loose deliveries.
Kusal Mendis was also honored with Player of the Match for his sublime knock, and he also expressed that the batter was happy with his performance and wanted to face India in the finals. It looked as if Kusal Mendis wanted to make a statement that he is not a finished product.
Before the rain interruption, Sri Lanka looked up in the game because their bowler picked all the top batters, and Fakhar Zaman was the first man to be sent back. A good partnership between Abdullah Shafique and skipper Babar Azam help the team.
After the game was stopped by rain, the match reversed to 42 overs, and Pakistan took the charge and started to dominate the bowlers with their keeper Mohammad Rizwan (86/73) and Iftikhar Ahmed (47/40) in, and Pakistan ended the inning at 252 in 42 overs.
Sri Lanka lost an early wicket in the form of Kusal Perera, who fell short of his crease, but a little stand between two sound batters, Pathum Nissanka and Kusal Mendis, helped the batting side to get the total, but the main partnership that helped the batting get the total was between Kusal Mendis’ 91 (87) and men in form Sadeera Samarawickrama’s 48 (51).
Charith Asalanka also supported the team in reaching the target. At the back end of the Sri Lankan inning, Pakistan pulled things back with two quick wickets from Shaheen, followed by a runout. They needed six runs in just two balls, but Asalanka was lucky to nick the ball between two fielders to get a four, and finally Sri Lanka won the thrilling game to put the team in the final.
I think we bowled really well- Kusal Mendis
During the post match presentation, Kusal Mendis was quite pumped after contributing to the team’s success. Kusal Mendis stated that the side didn’t panic in the end as they had faith in the destructive left handed batter Charith Asalanka. Kusal Mendis gave credit to the bowlers.
“I am happy with my performance and happy to get to the finals. Those two wickets fell, and we were nervous, but with Charith in the middle, we had hopes. He’ did this in the game against Afghanistan,” said Kusal Mendis.
“I think we bowled really well, so I’m happy to be in the finals. Wanindu, Lahiru, and Dushmanta are the main bowlers, but we have these bowlers who are bowling well. This is a young unit,”– he added.