‘Kya match tha’- Fans react as Sri Lanka beat Pakistan by two wickets to qualify for Asia Cup 2023 final

Sri Lanka beat Pakistan by two wickets in the Super 4 match of the Asia Cup and qualified for back-to-back finals. The defending champions were superb in their run-chase. Wicketkeeper Kusal Mendis and Sadeera Samarawickrama’s partnership led the second most successful Asia Cup side to the finals. They will again face India on September 17, Sunday.

It was a do-or-die for both the teams. Sri Lanka would have qualified if the match was washed out as they have a better net run rate than Pakistan. The rain played a spoilsport as the match began two hours later than its scheduled time. Pakistan won the toss and elected to bat first on a gloomy afternoon at the R Premedasa Stadium, Colombo. They made the announcement of their squad prior to the day of the match, making five changes. But before the match started opener Imam-ul-Haq was ruled out due to a back spasm.

Batting first, Babar Azam’s side lost the early wicket of Fakhar Zaman, as the opener departed for just 4 runs. Abdullah Shafique and skipper Babar Azam made a 64-run partnership before the skipper got stumped from a superb Dunith Wellalge delivery. Mohammad Rizwan and Shafique made a decent partnership, after which the opener got out after scoring 52 runs off 69 balls.

Kusal Mendis leads Sri Lanka for back-to-back finals

Pakistan lost two quick wickets after the wicket of Shafique. Then, Rizwan and Ifthikar Ahmed made a 108-run partnership, which led Pakistan to set a good target of 253 runs in a 42-over match. The wicketkeeper was unbeaten at 86 runs and Ifthikar scored 47 runs off 40 balls. Matheesa Pathirana was the pick of the bowlers for Sri Lanka. The 20-year-old pacer picked three wickets.

In reply, Sri Lanka got off to a decent start with opener Pathum Nissanka and Kusal Mendis scoring 62 runs in the powerplay. Both the batters made a 57-run partnership for the second wicket. After that, Mendis and Sadeera Samarawickrama stitched a beautiful 100-run partnership off 97 balls almost sealing the match against Pakistan.

The 28-year-old batter scored 48 runs off 51 balls and was crucial in building the inning with the wicketkeeper batter. The wicketkeeper batter missed out a hundred 91 runs off 87 balls. After his wicket, Sri Lanka took the game deep but two back-to-back by Shaheen Shah Afridi when 9 runs were needed off 9 balls changed the course of the match. His inning let his team through to the final in a thriller match.

Here’s how fans reacted