41 fours-8 sixes, breathing stopped in the last 5 minutes, Sri Lanka broke Pakistan’s dream, Aslanka snatched the final ticket from their jaws.
PAK vs SL Highlights: On Thursday, the Super-4 round match of Asia Cup 2023 was played between Pakistan and Sri Lanka. But this match was interrupted by rain, due to which its start was delayed and the overs were cut short. Babar Azam won the toss and decided to bat first and Pakistan set a target of 253 runs at the loss of 7 wickets in 42 overs. In reply, Sri Lanka (PAK vs SL) achieved the given target with the help of brilliant innings by Kusal Mendis, Sadira Samarawickram and Charith Asalanka and won the match by two wickets.
match delayed
Pakistan and Sri Lanka faced each other at the R Premadasa Cricket Stadium in Colombo. The clash between the two teams was to start at 3 pm, but due to rain it started at 5 pm. After which Babar Azam won the toss and decided to bat first. However, due to the late start of the match, the overs were reduced to 45.
Pakistan got its first blow
The first blow to the Pakistan team came on the score of 9 runs. Pramod Madushan gave Sri Lanka its first success by clean bowling Fakhar Zaman. Score 19/1 after 6 overs.
Babar Azam flopped
After Fakhar Zaman, Pakistan got its second blow in the form of Babar Azam. Dunith Villalage took his wicket. Babar Azam scored 29 runs in 35 balls.
Abdullah Shafiq returned to the pavilion after scoring a half-century
While Babar Azam and Fakhar Zaman failed to score well for the team, Abdullah Shafiq took over Pakistan’s innings by scoring a half-century. However, Mathish Pathirana got him out at the hands of Pramod Madushan. Abdullah Shafiq, who completed fifty runs in 65 balls, returned to the pavilion after scoring 52 runs. Score after 25 overs 109/4.
Half of Pakistan team was out
At the score of 130, half of the Pakistan team made its way to the pavilion. After scoring 12 runs, he was clean bowled by Mahish Tikshina. After which the responsibility of scoring runs fell on Mohammad Rizwan and Iftikhar Ahmed.
rain again caused disturbance
Rain disrupted the match after Pakistan scored 130 runs for the loss of five wickets in 27.4 overs. Therefore the game was stopped for about half an hour. For this reason the overs were reduced to 42 overs.
Mohammad Rizwan scored a half century
Apart from Abdullah Shafiq, Mohammad Rizwan scored a half-century. He completed fifty runs in 48 balls. Apart from this, he made a century partnership with Iftikhar Ahmed.
Pakistan scored 252 runs
Batting first, Babar Azam and Company scored more than 250 runs losing seven wickets in 42 overs. Under the Duckworth-Lewis rule, Sri Lanka got the target of 252 runs. Mohammad Rizwan remained unbeaten after scoring 86 runs. Abdullah Shafiq contributed 52 runs and Iftikhar Ahmed contributed 47 runs. Pathirana took three wickets and Madushan took two wickets. Tikshna and Velalge took one wicket each.
Shadab Khan gave two successes to Pakistan
Shadab Khan gave two blows to the Sri Lankan team which came to achieve the target of 253 runs. First he ran out Kushal Perera on a personal score of 17 runs. After this, Pathum Nissanka was caught on his own ball in 13.2 overs. He could score only 29 runs on 44 balls.
Sadira Samarawickrama and Kusal Mendis took over the innings
After making a partnership of 57 for the second wicket with Pathum Nissanka, Kusal Mendis partnered with Sadira Samarawickrama. Both players jointly scored 100 runs for Sri Lanka. But Iftikhar Ahmed broke this partnership by dismissing Sadira Samarawickram in 29.4 overs. Meanwhile, Kusal Mendis scored his third half-century in the Asia Cup.
Sri Lanka’s victory
Sri Lanka, which came to chase the target given by Pakistan, tried to win the match till the last ball and defeated Babar Azam’s team by two wickets. Kusal Mendis’s half-century inning of 97 runs played an important role in the team’s victory. However, apart from them, Sadira Samaravikram played a strong inning of 48 runs and Charith Asalanka played a strong inning of 49 runs.
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