Kusal Mendis produced an outstanding 91 and Charith Asalanka a brave, unbeaten 49 as defending champions Sri Lanka beat Pakistan by two wickets in a dramatic Super Four match here on Thursday to set up an Asia Cup final against India.
Fifties from Abdullah Shafique (52) and Mohammad Rizwan (86 not out) had taken Pakistan to a competitive 252 for 7 from 42 overs after electing to bat on another rain-affected day.
But Sri Lanka responded in kind through Mendis and Asalanka as they inched past the goal on the last ball of the match, also ruining the chance of an Indo-Pak summit clash.
The final will be played on Sunday.
The way Sri Lanka went about their chase was quite remarkable, even considering the fact that Pakistan were without their injured pacers Naseem Shah and Haris Rauf.
After Kusal Perera departed early, Mendis, in the company of Pathum Nissanka (29), stabilized the Lankan innings with a 57-run stand for the second wicket.
But the Lankans had an even better step in wait, despite Nissanka passing the ball back to Shadab Khan.
Mendis and Sadeera Samarawickrama (48 off 51 balls) added 100 runs for the third wicket, as Lanka gradually closed the gap.
Mendis has been blessed with natural hitting ability and timing, and his knock was a validation of that. The right-hander used his feet well against the spinners and took on the faster group with confidence.
Samarawickrama, despite being hit once on the helmet by Shaheen Afridi, kept up his finish with some sensible cricket.
But a momentary trouble put an end to his stay. Iftikhar caught him in no man’s land with a slightly longer ball, and Rizwan made an easy pass.
Mendis scored another 33 runs along with Asalanka, but Iftikhar came back to see him off.
Mendis’ effort to deflect the ball off his pads resulted in a lead, which was caught superbly by the diving Mohamamd Harris.
Thereafter Sri Lanka panicked, lost four wickets in as many overs and looked like they were on the verge of ruining the chase.
Afridi did the damage during that phase with two wickets in successive balls. But Asalanka held her nerve in the end to take her team home.
Earlier, Shafique and Rizwan propped up Pakistan’s innings with excellent fifties. Pakistan also got a late boost from Iftikhar Ahmed (47 off 40 balls).
The pitch was not the softest to bat on but Pakistan found some early momentum through Shafique and captain Babar Azam after Fakhar Zaman’s dismissal.
Shafique and Babar scored 64 runs in just over 11 overs. Shafique scored runs in a more orthodox fashion and his spectacular goal against pacemaker Matheesha Pathirana was a sight to behold.
Just as the second alliance was flourishing, Dunith Wellalage broke it. The left-arm spinner, who caught five top-order batsmen against India on Tuesday, wove his magic around Babar this time.
Babar assumed the ball was coming his way once it left off-stump and played for turn, but it went wide for Mendis to complete a quick delivery.
Babar’s sacking pushed Pakistan into a mini-collapse as they lost a further three wickets for 30 runs in six overs.
At 130 for five, they were in danger of being bowled out with a below-par total as the Lankan spinners attempted to dominate proceedings in the middle overs as they had done against India.
But Rizwan and Iftikhar dashed their hopes during an entertaining 108-run sixth wicket stand.
In fact, in the last 10 overs, between 32 and 42, Pakistan added 102 runs as Rizwan and Iftikhar took on the Lankan bowlers.
Veteran batsman Rizwan has not been among the runs lately and he picked a perfect time to get a few against his name.
It was a typical Rizwan innings, starting at a slower pace before exploding in the final over with some towering shots from the right side.
Iftikhar does not have a complicated mind as a batsman as he simply tries to force every ball that comes off the ground and the right-hander also employed a similar strategy here.
Iftikhar and Rizwan managed to lead Pakistan to a healthy total but could not challenge the resolve of the Lankans.
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