Kusal Mendis scored 91 runs while Charith Asalanka’s unbeaten 49-run knock helped Sri Lanka pull off the chase of 252 and secure their place in the final of Asia Cup 2023
Kusal Mendis narrowly missed out on a well-deserved century but his 91-run inning helped Sri Lanka successfully complete the 252-run chase to beat Pakistan by 2 wickets and qualify for the final of Asia Cup 2023 against India. Charith Asalanka scored an unbeaten 49 as the match went down to the last ball, however, the defending champions kept their nerves to qualify for the final.
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The two most successful teams in the history of the Asia Cup will meet each other on September 17. It will be the eighth final between India and Sri Lanka.
The defending champions were given a revised DLS target of 252 runs as the match was reduced to 42 overs after a delayed start due to rain in Colombo’s R. Premadasa Stadium on Thursday, September 14.
It was a packed house for the must-win virtual semifinal and the crowd were treated to a nail-biting thriller that went down to the wire and the home fans were rewarded for cheering their team late until Thursday midnight.
The finish of the match surely gave the fans their money’s worth, Shaheen Shah Afridi picked up two late wickets, missing a hat-trick narrowly, and despite Zaman Khan’s excellent bowling, Asalanka managed to steer his side home courtesy of an edged boundary when the equation was down to six needed from two balls.
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Earlier, Mohammad Rizwan smashed an unbeaten knock of 86 runs, while Iftikhar Ahmed scored 46 runs as the duo’s 108-run partnership helped Pakistan to a fight-worthy total of 252/7. Babar Azam had earlier won the toss and even though the match was delayed by nearly two hours due to rain, the Pakistan captain opted to bat first, which was a surprising call.
Fakhar Zaman was earlier left out of the playing XI announced on Wednesday but Imam-ul-Haq injured himself during warm-ups and had to be replaced by Zaman, Abdullah Shafique was also included in the lineup as they opened up the inning however Zaman was dismissed early on.
Babar stitched a much-needed fifty partnership with Shafique who smashed a half-century however, the captain was dismissed by a ripper from Wellalage, and wickets kept falling as Pakistan were reeling at 130/5 at one stage of the game.
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The heavens opened up, the match was also reduced to 45 overs, and once action resumed, three more overs were deducted per side. Rizwan and Iftikhar bailed out their side with a crucial partnership that helped their side turn the momentum in Pakistan’s favour.
Rizwan returned unbeaten at 86 in 73 balls with four boundaries and two sixes. The inning helped Pakistan post a competitive total in a virtual semifinal.
Mendis continued his purple patch, the wicket-keeper batter kept the chase going after a good start from Pathum Nissanka and Kusal Perera.
Shadab Khan’s fiery direct throw broke the opening partnership, he then completed a caught and bowled to get Nissanka, Sadeera Samarawickrama and Mendis’ partnership nearly pulled Sri Lanka over the line but Iftikhar Ahmed chipped in with two late wickets to pull momentum in Pakistann’s favour.
Shanaka, Dhananjaya de Silva and Pramod Madushan were all dismissed late as Azam and Co. came within touching distance of reaching the final which would have been a third India Pakistan game in the space of two weeks but Asalanka had other ideas.
