Sri Lanka secured a thumping victory of 2 wickets over Pakistan, in what was the most exciting match of the tournament so far with the match being decided in the very last ball of the match. The win made sure that Dasun Shanaka-led Sri Lanka would play India in the finals of the Asia Cup on Sunday. After a late barrage from Pakistan which took them to 252, Sri Lankan batters played safe but Dasun Shanaka once again failed to make a significant start but ended up in chaos towards the end, eventually playing out of their skin to secure the victory.
The prolonged rain delay forced a match with revised conditions first with 45 overs a side which was further shortened to 42 overs a side as rain came back midway. Pakistan set a run-a-ball target for Sri Lanka, thanks to a strong finish where they scored 102 runs in the last 10 overs.
Sri Lankan bowlers contained the Pakistan batters till the 27th over as the skipper Dasun Shanaka was marshalling his troops and was seen having constant interactions with the bowlers and made sure that they do not allow Pakistan to score freely. However, the rain break helped Pakistan as Mohd Rizwan and Iftikhar Ahmed played their shots towards the slog overs firing their team to a strong total.
Pakistan had to field a comparatively weaker lineup as they lost Naseem Shah, Haris Rauf, and Imam Ul Haq to injuries, which meant that Faqar Zaman was given another go in the opening spot. Faqar failed to capitalize on his extended life, as he fell cheaply to Pramod Madushan in the fifth over. Skipper Babar Azam and Abdullah Shafique got together and a brief period of acceleration of the run rate followed, as they stitched a partnership of 64 runs for the second wicket.
Babar Azam was stumped attempting to drive a full-length delivery from Dunith Wellalage, extending his run of poor form in the tournament against the big teams. Abdullah Shafique got to his fifty but was soon caught in the deep while trying to pull a short delivery from Matheesha Pathirana. Mohammed Rizwan was offered a life when Kushal Mendis missed a stamping chance off a peach of a delivery from de Silva.
Pakistan seemed to lose their way in the middle overs and found themselves at 130-5. Rains intervened yet again leading to the loss of overs, with the match being now 42 overs. However, the 30 minutes of rain seemed to change the context of the whole match, as conditions improved for the batters, with any support to the spinners vanishing.
Pakistan came on to bat with an altogether different intent as Mohammad Rizwan and Iftikhar Ahmed led a death-over onslaught against the Sri Lankan bowlers, as they found gaps in the field. The final 10 overs of the Pakistan innings added 102 runs to their scoreboard, with Rizwan remaining unbeaten at a score of 86 off 73 balls and Iftikhar scoring 47 off 40 balls, powering Pakistan to run-a-ball 252 in their allotted overs.
Sri Lankan had a new-look opening combo with the experienced Kusal Perera returning to the side along with the in-form Pathum Nissanka. Perera made his intentions clear as he smashed 4 boundaries off Shaheen Afridi but was dismissed after he ran himself out in the fourth over. Kusal Mendis formed the backbone of Sri Lanka’s chase with his 91 off 87 deliveries, along with Nissanka and Samarawickrama he took Sri Lanka to a winnable position.
Mendis and Samarawickrama put among themselves a third-wicket stand of 100 runs, and it was Sri Lanka’s match to lose from there. When Kusal Mendis was dismissed in the 36th over, Sri Lanka needed just 42 runs off 41 balls to win. Dhananjaya de Silva and Charith Asalanka took them closer to the target, however, a double-wicket over from Shaheen Afridi evenly poised the game.
Sri Lanka needed 8 runs in the last over to complete the chase, with the newbie Zaman Khan bowling the last. Pramod Madhushan was run out trying to sneak a single, and they required 6 runs off the last 2 balls giving a slight edge to Pakistan. But then Asalanka outside-edged a ball that went between the wicketkeeper and short third for four. Asalanka finished the game as he stole a double playing a slower ball to the square leg. Pakistan made a number of mistakes with regard to its tactics, field placement, and strategy.
We had the game under control, but the loss of wickets took it till the last over. We gave them a chance to come back in the game, but we knew Charith could get us home – Dasun Shanaka
Sri Lankan skipper Dasun Shanaka praised his batters for their temperament, as they took their learnings from the previous game’s loss against India. Dasun Shanaka also thanked the crowd for getting behind his players and cheering the team, and that they were eagerly looking forward to the finals.
” We had a discussion before batting and we discussed the mistakes we made in the India game. We gave away wickets in the first 10 overs, and Kusal and Sadeera played brilliant knocks” said Dasun Shanaka.