New Delhi: The defending champions, Sri Lanka, held their nerves on Thursday night to qualify for the Asia Cup 2023, finals and set up their meeting with the men in blue on Sunday.
Sri Lanka faced Pakistan on Thursday, in their final Super 4 match, which was virtually a semi-final match as the winner of the match would have gone on to face India in the finals. Eventually, it was the defending champions who came out on top and knocked the hosts, Pakistan, out of the tournament.
What a thrilling victory!
Sri Lanka secures a spot in the #AsiaCup2023 finals on Sunday with a thrilling 2-wicket win over Pakistan!#AsiaCup2023 #SLvPAK pic.twitter.com/lJF3CCNjPK
— Sri Lanka Cricket 🇱🇰 (@OfficialSLC) September 14, 2023
Earlier, the start of the match was delayed due to rain, and by the time the game started, ten overs worth of time was already lost, resulting in 45 overs a side match.
Pakistan won the toss and opted to bat first. Pakistan was playing with five changes in their side, while Sri Lanka also had two changes in their side.
Sri Lanka got the start they wanted as the Lankan pacer Pramod Madhushan cleaned out Fakhar Zaman (4) in his third over. Pakistan, however, replied strongly, with opener Abdullah Shafique (52) and skipper Babar Azam (29) adding 64 runs for the second wicket.
Sri Lanka again made a strong comeback by reducing Pakistan to 130 for 5 in 27.4 overs before the match got interrupted by rain again.
By the time the match was resumed, the match was reduced to 42 overs a side game. Pakistan, after coming back with the help of fiery innings from Md. Rizwan (86*) and Iftikhar Ahmed (47) finished strongly, with a total of 252 on the board.
Matheesha Pathirana was the most successful bowler for Sri Lanka, with 3 wickets under his name.
In reply, Sri Lanka also held their ground with the help of openers, Pathum Nissanka (29) and Kushal Parera (17), giving them a strong start, followed by scintillating performances in the middle order from Kushal Mendis (91) and Sadeera Samarawickrama (48) and finally a strong finish from Charith Asalanka (49*).
Fifty up for Kusal Mendis, his third in this tournament! 🙌#SLvPAK #AsiaCup2023 pic.twitter.com/OcjQQDYBQM
— Sri Lanka Cricket 🇱🇰 (@OfficialSLC) September 14, 2023
Sri Lanka needed 6 off the last 2 balls when Asalanka hit a boundary and a couple to take his team into the finals.
Full last over
Pakistan vs Sri Lanka thriller
50 FPS#PAKvsSL #AsiaCup2023 pic.twitter.com/ytSef2v482— ᑕᕼ ~ᗩᒪᎥ (@Alixjutt) September 14, 2023
Iftikhar Ahmed was the most successful bowler for Pakistan with 3 wickets, followed by Shaheen Afridi, who got 2 wickets under his name.
Sri Lanka will now face India in the finals on Sunday, September 17.
