Colombo: Sri Lanka beat Pakistan by 5 wickets in the Asia Cup 2023 Super Four fixture to set up a final against India. While Pakistan won the toss and elected to bat first in this rain-affected encounter, they ended up posting 252 runs in a curtailed 42-over game, riding on Mohammad Rizwan's unbeaten 86 off 73 balls. Sri Lanka dominated much of the run-chase courtesy of Kusal Mendis 91 off 87 balls, wickets towards the backend of the innings made things interesting before they eventually got over the line in the last over off the last ball with Charith Asalanka scoring the winning run off the last ball.
With Asalanka scoring the required 2 off the final ball of the match, Sri Lanka reached the Asia Cup final for the 11th time in history and spoiled yet another chance of an India vs Pakistan Asia Cup 2023 final. It was a match that saw Pakistan made several forced changes due to injuries including last-minute injury to Imam ul Haq.
With the ball in hand, Sri Lanka's Matheesha Pathirana scalped 3 wickets although he was a tad bit expensive, conceding 65 runs for 3 wickets. Pramod Madushan picked 2 wickets for 58 runs while Maheesh Theekshana also picked 1 for 42. Dunith Wellalage was the other wicket-taker, finishing with figures of 1 for 40.
As far as Pakistan are concerned, Iftikhar Ahmed's 3 for 50 after his 47 off 40 with the bat brought them back into the game while Shaheen Shah Afridi's 2/52 which saw him take two wickets off two balls in the penultimate over almost saw them get over the winning line. Shadab Khan (1/55) was the other wicket-taker for the Men in Green in what was a virtual semifinal.
The tournament now ends for Pakistan with two out of three losses in the this stage of the continental tournament. Sri Lanka play India at the R Premadasa Stadium in Colombo in the summit clash. However, India also have a match to play against Bangladesh which is a dead rubber as the result of that game will have no impact on the final lineup.