Sri Lanka knock Pakistan out of Asia Cup 2023

Sri Lanka crushed Pakistan by two wickets in a virtual semi-last of the continuous Asia Cup 2023 at the R.Premadasa Arena in Colombo on Thursday.

The last of the Asia Cup 2023 will currently be played between Sri Lanka and India on Sunday, September 17 in Colombo.

Charith Asalanka resisted the urge to panic as the obligation to take his group over the line in the keep going not many overs fell on his shoulders however he batted with persistence.

The match at one point during the last over was agreeable to the away side, because of Zaman Khan's splendor, as they simply had to protect six runs in the last two balls.

In any case, Asalanka got an external edge on the subsequent last chunk of the match and the ball contacted the limit line.

Sri Lanka required two off one when Zaman bowled a more slow length ball on the cushions, yet the left-given hitter held his nerves and played a basic shot towards the profound square leg wall and celebrated as he ran two across the pitch to direct his side to a notable success.

Talking in a post-match function, he opened up on his manner of thinking behind the last-ball triumph.

"I simply figured how might I get two to hit a hole and run hard on the grounds that it is a major field and just advised Pathirana to run hard. I thought it is possible that he will bowl a bouncer or a yorker and afterward he bowled a more slow ball, so it was in my side. I'm extremely energized. Mendis and Sadeera batted all around well. I needed to wrap up. That is my job. I can rank this innings second spot in my book," he said.

Pursuing the objective of 252 runs, Sri Lanka looked top choices from the beginning with their hitters playing adult and reasonable innings.

Kusal Mendis and Sadeera Samarawickrama fabricated a pivotal 100-run organization and set their side in a ruling position.

Mendis got out in the wake of scoring 91 runs while Samarawickrama was only two runs short of his 50 years when he succumbed to Iftikhar Ahmed.

Iftikhar conveyed for his side with the bat as well as with the ball and took three significant and convenient wickets however his heroics went to no end.

Batting first, Pakistan posted 252 sudden spikes in demand for the scoreboard on account of Mohammad Rizwan and Iftikhar joining powers for their side.

Rizwan played an unbeaten 86 off 73 with nine limits while Abdullah Shafique scored his lady ODI 50 years and was the second top-scorer for the Green Shirts.

Prior, Pakistan won the throw and selected to bat first. The match was decreased to 45 overs and afterward 42 because of downpour.

Playing XI

Pakistan:

Fakhar Zaman, Abdullah Shafique, Babar Azam (c), Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Mohammad Haris, Iftikhar Ahmed, Shadab Khan, Mohammad Nawaz, Mohammad Wasim, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Zaman Khan.

Sri Lanka:

Pathum Nissanka, Kusal Perera, Kusal Mendis (wk), Sadeera Samarawickrama, Charith Asalanka, Dhananjaya de Silva, Dasun Shanaka (c), Dunith Wellalage, Maheesh Theekshana, Pramod Madushan, Matheesha Pathirana