COLOMBO: Charith Asalanka displayed nerves of steel after Kusal Mendis’ 91 to power Sri Lanka into the Asia Cup 2023 final with a thrilling two-wicket victory over Pakistan.
Chasing a revised target of 252 in the reduced 42 overs, Sri Lanka needed to chase eight runs off Zaman Khan, bowling the final over, and amassed the total when Charith Asalanka chipped one down to the square leg on the final delivery.
Sri Lanka had a shaky start to the run chase as Kusal Perera fell for an eight-ball 17, courtesy of Shadab Khan’s direct hit.
Coming out to bat at number three, Kusal Mendis joined Pathum Nissanka (29) and they added a valuable 57-run partnership for the second wicket until Shadab Khan got the opener caught and bowled.
Sri Lanka were 77/2 in 13.2 overs when Mendis and Sadeera Samarawickrama put together a 100-run stand to put their side in complete command.
Samarawickrama, however, fell just two short of his well-deserved half-century as he scored a 51-ball 48, hitting four boundaries.
Joining set batter Kusal Mendis in the middle, Charith Asalanka made sure to keep Sri Lanka in momentum as he knitted an anchoring 33-run partnership.
Mendis, however, was outclassed by Iftikhar Ahmed as he fell for a gutsy 91 off 87 deliveries, which featured eight boundaries and a six.
His dismissal glimmered a ray of hope for Pakistan as their bowlers scripted their comeback by picking up late wickets.
Meanwhile, Asalanka, standing his ground firm denied Pakistan to snatch the victory as he scored the winning runs for Sri Lanka on the final delivery.
He scored an unbeaten 49 off 47 balls, hitting three boundaries and a six.
Iftikhar Ahmed led the bowling attack for Pakistan with three wickets, followed by Shaheen Shah Afridi, bagging two while Shadab Khan made one scalp.
Opting to bat first, Pakistan raised a commendable total of 252/7 after the all-important Asia Cup 2023 fixture was reduced to 42 overs a side due to rain interruption.
The hosts once again got off to a shaky start to their innings as their out-of-form opener Fakhar Zaman (4) failed to score big and was castled by Pramod Madushan in the fourth over with just nine runs on the board.
Following the early dismissal, Pakistan captain Babar Azam joined Abdullah Shafique at the crease and the pair knitted an anchoring 64-run partnership.
The duo of Babar and Abdullah had put Pakistan in a strong position before Dunith Wellalage got Babar stumped to mark Sri Lanka’s comeback.
Babar scored 29 off 35 deliveries with the help of three boundaries.
Pakistan’s mainstay with the bat Abdullah Shafique soon followed his captain back to the pavilion after Matheesha Pathirana stunned him with a short delivery soon after he amassed his maiden half-century.
Abdullah Shafique smashed three boundaries and two sixes on his way to a 69-ball 52.
Pakistan found themselves in a state of bother as they lost two more wickets in quick succession.
Consequently, the Babar-led side slipped to 130/5 in 27.4 overs as returning Mohammad Haris (3) and Mohammad Nawaz (12) perished cheaply.
With the hosts in heaps of trouble in their must-win Asia Cup 2023 match, wicketkeeper batter Mohammad Rizwan joined forces with Iftikhar Ahmed and launched an astounding recovery.
Rizwan and Iftikhar turned the game on its head with a brisk 108-run partnership for the sixth wicket which ended when the latter perished in the penultimate over.
Iftikhar fell just three short of his half-century, scoring 47 off just 40 deliveries, hitting four boundaries and two sixes.
Mohammad Rizwan, however, carried his bat all the way through and top-scored for Pakistan with an unbeaten 86-run knock from 73 deliveries, laced up with six boundaries and two sixes.
Matheesha Pathirana led the bowling attack for Sri Lanka in an all-important Asia Cup 2023 fixture with 3/65 in his eight overs, followed by Pramod Madushan’s 2/58.
Maheesh Theekshana and Dunith Wellalage made one scalp each.
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