Asia Cup 23 : Sri Lanka win on last ball in a thriller vs Pak , to meet India in final

 

India-Pakistan are not facing each other in the final of the Asia Cup 2023.  The semi-final match on Thursday was between Pakistan and Sri Lanka.  The winner of this game will play the final against India on Sunday.  Sri Lanka defeated Pakistan in that match.  The game was reduced to 42 overs due to rain.  Batting first, Pakistan lost 7 wickets and scored 252 runs.  Sri Lanka also needed 252 runs to win the match under the Duckworth-Lewis rule.  Sri Lanka eventually beat Pakistan in a tight match to reach the final.  Dasun Shanaka's team  will play against Rohit Sharma's team India at this ground in Colombo on Sunday.

 The toss was delayed due to rain for some time before the start of the game.  First the game was reduced to 45 overs.  Later, the number of overs was reduced to 42 due to one more rain spell.  Pakistan made six changes to the team after the loss against India.  Four of those changes had to be forced.  Babar Azam won the toss and decided to bat first.  Pakistan's opener Fakhar Zaman did not get a run in this match either.  He was dismissed by Pramod Madushan's superb yorker  after scoring 4 runs.  Abdullah Shafique , who got a chance in place of Imam-ul-Haq, played well in this match.  Babar accompanied him.  Despite playing a few good shots, the Pak captain could not score big runs.  After scoring 29 runs, he was stumped by Dunith Wellalage's spin.

Shafique was playing well.  He scored his first fifty in ODI cricket.  But soon after that, he was dismissed by Pathirana for 52 .  Mohammad Harris and Mohammad Nawaz also did not get runs.  Pakistan lost 5 wickets for 130 runs.  Rizwan and Iftikhar managed the team from there.  They started working as a couple.  At first they  were not taking risks.  Once they were set they started playing big shots.  Rizwan played with responsibility.   The Pakistani batters plan was to play one or two big shots per over.  They were running on the rest of the balls.  As a result, 10-12 runs were getting every over.  Sri Lanka made some fielding mistakes at the end.  Two batters took advantage of it.  Iftikhar got out after scoring 47 runs.  But by that time, Pakistan had enough runs to fight for.  In the end, Pakistan scored 252 runs after losing 7 wickets in 42 overs.  Rizwan remained unbeaten with 86 brilliant runs under pressure.

 It looked like Sri Lanka would have trouble dealing with the Pakistan bowlers on this pitch.  But Kushal Perera started the  Sri Lanka's innings in blazing fashion .  He started aggressive batting after getting the opportunity in this match.  The Sri Lankan batsmen looked to hit four from the start.  Despite a good start, Perera had to return for 17 runs after being run out by Shadab Khan's direct throw.  Pathum Nissanka paired with Kushal Mendis for the third wicket.  Both played well without taking risks .Shadab brought Pakistan back into the game.  He caught Nissanka himself off his own ball for 29 runs.

Sri Lanka did not panic even after the two openers returned to the dressing room.  Instead, they bat confidently at home.  The absence of Haris Rauf and Naseem Shah in Pakistan's bowling attack gave the batsmen some advantage.  Zaman Khan, Mohammad Wasim Jr. are not very experienced bowlers.  Mendis showed his consistency once again.  He batted more aggressively and well accompanied by Sadira Samaravikram.

 The two Sri Lankan batsmen knew that Pakistan would become defensive if wickets did not fall.  That's what they did.  As the runs increased, Pakistan became nervous.  Babar tried everything.  But he could not get wickets.  Two Sri Lankan batsmen scored a century for the third wicket.  The game was slowly slipping out of Pakistan's hands.  Just then, Babar put Iftikhar with the ball.  It worked.  He dismissed Samaravikrama for 48 runs.

 Mendis was pulling Sri Lanka.   Babar knew that if Mendis survives to the end, he will leave the field winning for the team.  Sri Lanka's confidence increased as the runs for victory kept reducing .  Thousands of fans at the Premadasa Stadium were screaming after every run.  Charitha Asalanka was doing his work and  was accompanying Mendis.  After 91 runs, Mendis returned with a catch while playing a flick  shot off Iftikhar.  Harris took a good diving catch.

After Mendis, Dasun Shanaka was dismissed by Iftikhar.  Sri Lanka was now under some pressure after losing its captain.  The pressure was increasing with each dot ball.  Iftikhar bowled well where Pakistan's top bowlers failed to catch the eye.  He kept Pakistan in the fight till the end.  Babar had few options.  Asalanka was playing well.  Sri Lanka needed 20 runs off the last 18 balls to win.  Afridi went to bowl in the penultimate over.  He dismissed Dhananjay D'Silva as he tried to hoick the full toss and was caught at long on .  Wellalage was sent back in the very next ball.  8 runs were needed to win in the last over.  2 runs needed in the last ball.  Asalanka (49*)  left the field winning for the team under pressure.  Disappointed, Pakistan had to leave the Asia Cup. Kusal Mendis for his fabulous 91 was the player of the match.