Sri Lanka beats Pakistan by 2 Wickets to qualify for Asia Cup 2023 final against India
With a two-wicket victory over Pakistan on Thursday at the R. Premadasa Stadium in this city, Sri Lanka secured a spot against India in the Asia Cup final. However, after taking a methodical approach in its run-chase, nervousness began to appear towards the conclusion.In the midst of a nail-biting final over bowled by Zaman Khan, the host team was forced to rush to win after losing five wickets for 36 runs.Before the ball took the edge of Charith Asalanka's blade and went for a boundary while defending seven runs, the debutant gave up just two runs off the first four balls. Asalanka flicked it for a few amid the thunderous roar of a packed stadium after Zaman fatally slipped on the pads with two needed from the final throw.Before the commotion, Kusal Mendis and Sadeera Samarawickrama's 100-run third-wicket stand was a masterclass in preparing a chase.To make sure the asking rate didn't get out of control, the pair sprinted hard to grab the ones and twos when the spinners worked in tandem and picked the occasional boundary when they missed their lengths.In an effort to maintain the DLS par score in a rain-delayed game, the game's openers Kusal Perera and Pathum Nissanka fetched a flurry of boundaries.Earlier, Pakistan chose to bat after a two-hour and 15-minute rain delay in the opening of the game, but it was struggling at 130 for 5 in the 28th over when the skies opened up once more.
PAK 252/7 (42)
SL 252/8 (42)