Sri Lanka reached the final by scoring 2 runs on the last ball: Defeated Pakistan by 2 wickets, will face India on 17th September

Defending champion Sri Lanka has entered the final of Asia Cup-2023. The team defeated Pakistan by 2 wickets in the Super-4 match on Thursday night. The team has reached the final of this tournament for the 11th time. Sri Lanka will face India in the title match on September 17.

Batting after winning the toss, Pakistan scored 252 runs for 7 wickets in 42 overs at the R Premadasa Stadium in Colombo. Under DLS method, Sri Lanka got the target of 252 only. Sri Lanka won by losing 8 wickets in 42 overs. Read ahead for a record, analysis and match report…

Let’s start with a record made in the match…

A record: Iftikhar-Rizwan made a record century partnership
Mohammad Rizwan and Iftikhar Ahmed made a partnership of 108 runs for Pakistan. Both of them made the record of the biggest partnership for the sixth wicket for Pakistan in the ODI Asia Cup. Both of them broke the records of Fawad Alam and Sohail Tanvir. Who made a 100-run partnership for the sixth wicket against Hong Kong in 2008.

Analysis: Sri Lanka created pressure by taking early wickets; Mendis-Samarawickrama made the chase easy
The bowlers gave the lead to Sri Lanka, who came to bowl after losing the toss. Half of Pakistan’s team had returned to the pavilion at the score of 130 runs. Then it rained and the match had to be stopped.
But, this rain proved to be a gift for Pakistan. When play started again, Pakistan scored 122 runs in just 74 balls. Mohammad Rizwan and Iftikhar Ahmed made a century partnership and took the team’s score to 252 runs.

Sri Lanka made a good start against the target of 252 runs under DLS. Kusal Perera was out after scoring 17 runs, but after him Pathum Nissanka made a partnership of 57 runs with Kusal Mendis. Mendis then made a century partnership with Sadira Samarawickrama and took the team closer to victory. In the last over, the team had to score 12 runs to win, in such a situation, Charith Asalanka played a responsible inning and scored an unbeaten 49 to take his team to the final.

see Scorecard of Pakistan-Sri Lanka match

Match report from here…

Mendis-Samarawickrama made century partnership
After losing the wicket of Pathum Nissanka for 77 runs, Kusal Mendis took the innings forward with Sadira Samarawickrama. Both of them took the team’s score beyond 100 runs. Mendis completed his fifty and the team’s score crossed 150 runs. There was a century partnership between the two in the 30th over. In the same over, Samarawickrama was out after scoring 48 runs and the partnership between the two was broken. Both of them made a partnership of 100 runs in 98 balls.

Fifty partnership of Nissanka-Mendis
Kusal Perera gave a good start to Sri Lanka while chasing the target of 252 runs. He hit 4 fours, but was run out after scoring 17 runs. Kusal Mendis, who came at number-3, along with Pathum Nissanka took the team’s score beyond 50. There was a partnership of 57 runs between the two. Nissanka became the victim of Shadab Khan after scoring 29 runs and the partnership between the two was broken.

Powerplay: Sri Lanka scored 50+ runs
The Sri Lankan team made a fast start in the powerplay. The team has scored 56 runs even after losing one wicket. Kusal Parer was run out after scoring 17 runs. The Sri Lankan team got one over less than Pakistan in the powerplay. Pakistan played 9 overs powerplay.

This is how Sri Lanka’s wickets fell

Pakistani innings from here…

Pakistan scored 252 runs, Sri Lanka had a target of 252 only.
Pakistani team won the toss and batted first and scored 252 runs for 7 wickets in 42 overs. For Pakistan, Mohammad Rizwan scored 86 runs while Abdullah Shafiq scored 52 runs at the R Premadasa Stadium in Colombo.

Mathish Pathirana took three wickets. Pramod Madushan got two successes. Mahish Teekshana and Dunith Vellalage got one wicket each.

Target reduced due to DLS method
Pakistan batted for 42 overs and scored 252 runs at the loss of 7 wickets, but after DLS method calculation, Sri Lanka got the target of only 252 runs. Actually, Pakistan had lost 5 wickets for 130 runs after 27.4 overs. At this time the game was of 45-45 overs, then it rained. When the game started again, it was reduced to 42 overs. Due to this, Sri Lanka also got the revised target of 252 runs.

Rizwan scored 86 runs on 73 balls
After the dismissal of captain Babar Azam, Mohammad Rizwan, who came to play at number-4, played a half-century of unbeaten 86 runs on 73 balls. Rizwan scored the 12th fifty of his ODI career.

Rizwan-Iftikhar took Pakistan beyond 200
After losing the 5th wicket at the score of 130 runs, rain came in Colombo and the game had to be stopped. When it started again, Mohammad Rizwan and Iftikhar Ahmed led the innings. After getting set, both of them started hitting big shots. Rizwan completed the 12th fifty of his career on 48 balls. He also made a century partnership with Iftikhar. Both of them made a partnership of 108 runs on 78 balls. This partnership took Pakistan’s score beyond 200.

Pakistan’s wickets fell like this

Shafiq’s first ODI fifty
Abdullah Shafiq scored the first fifty of his ODI career. He scored 52 runs on 69 balls at a strike rate of 75.36. Shafiq’s innings included 3 fours and 2 sixes.

Babar-Shafiq took over Pakistani innings
After losing the first wicket for 9 runs, captain Babar Azam and Abdullah Shafiq took over the Pakistani innings by making a half-century partnership. Both of them made a partnership of 64 runs on 70 balls for the second wicket. This partnership was broken by Dunith Vellalaghe by stumping Babar.

Pakistan got off to a good start in the powerplay.
The Pakistani team, who came to bat first, had an average start. The team scored 36 runs for one wicket in 9 overs powerplay. Fakhar Zaman was out after scoring 4 runs. He was bowled by Pramod Madushan.

42-42 over match is being played
Overs were cut due to the match not starting on time. Earlier the match was played in 45-45 overs. But due to rain for the second time, it was reduced to 42-42 overs. Now the new conditions will be like this…

See photos of Pakistan-Sri Lanka match

Pakistan captain Babar Azam won the toss and decided to bat.

Pakistani opener Imam-ul-Haq (left) got injured during warm-up. Abdullah Shafiq was introduced in his place.

The ongoing Pakistan-Sri Lanka match in Colombo started with a delay of 2 hours due to rain.

5 changes in Pakistan, Imam injured at the last moment
Pakistan team came with 5 changes. Imam-ul-Haq, Faheem Ashraf, Naseem Shah, Haris Rauf and Salman Ali Aga are not playing. In their place, Abdullah Shafiq, Mohammad Nawaz, Zaman Khan, Mohammad Wasim Junior and Mohammad Haris got a chance.

Pakistani opener Imam-ul-Haq got injured while warming up. Fakhar Zaman has been brought back in his place. Fakhar was left out of the playing eleven released a day earlier. But due to Imam’s injury, Fakhar got his chance back.

Sri Lanka team also made 2 changes. Kusal Perera got a chance in place of Dimuth Karunaratne and Pramod Madushan got a chance in place of Kasun Rajitha.

Playing-11 of both the teams
Sri Lanka: Dasun Shanaka (captain),Pathum Nissanka, Kusal Perera, Kusal Mendis (wk), Sadira Samarawickrama, Charith Asalanka, Dhananjay de Silva, Dunith Vellalaghe, Mahish Teekshana, Mathish Pathirana and Pramod Madushan.

Pakistan: Babar Azam (captain), Fakhar Zaman, Abdullah Shafiq, Mohammad Rizwan (wicketkeeper), Mohammad Haris, Iftikhar Ahmed, Shadab Khan, Mohammad Nawaz, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Mohammad Wasim Jr. and Zaman Khan.

Whoever wins is in the final; losing team out
The winning team today will enter the finals, while the losing team will be eliminated. If Sri Lanka loses then the final will be played between India and Pakistan for the first time in Asia Cup history.

Sri Lanka and Pakistan have 2 points each and the team that wins the match will have 4 points. India has already reached the final with 4 points.

If the match is canceled due to rain then Sri Lanka team will play the final. Because their net run rate is better than Pakistan.