Pakistan survived a wonderful spell from an enraged spinner Wanindu Hasaranga to beat Sri Lanka by five wickets in an intense Super 4 match to stay alive in the Asia Cup here on Tuesday. Chasing 134 should not have been a tough task, but Pakistan nearly made a mess of it before recovering to finish at 138 for five.
The conditions were not easy to bat on, but Pakistan batters went for the jugular early on as opener Sahibzada Farhan (24) made up for a clumsy Fakhar Zaman (17 off 19 balls) at the other end with some strident shots, including a sequence of 6, 6, 4 off pacer Nuwan Thushara.
However, Maheesh Theekshana (2/24) had Sahizada’s number in the third ball of the sixth over and two balls later ousted Zaman, who was earlier pinged flush on the helmet by Dushmantha Chameera.
Soon Hasaranga (2/27), who grabbed a spectacular ground level catch at mid-off to dismiss Zaman, took over, jettisoning Saim Ayub and skipper Salman Agha.
His delivery that pegged back the stump of Ayub was a peach, moving that little much to beat the batter’s defence.
On both the occasions, Hasaranga imitated the hands-on-chest celebration of Pakistan spinner Abrar Ahmed, who had earlier mocked the Lankan player copying his ‘Neymar’ celebration after castling him.
At 80 for five, the match was wide open with Pakistan still needing 54 runs and a defeat would have knocked them out of the race of the tournament. However, they found two willing soldiers in Hussain Talat (32 not out, 30 balls) and Mohammad Nawaz (38 not out, 24 balls), who collected the remaining runs with composure as Pakistan touched the tape with two overs to spare.
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Earlier, Pakistan pacers put the Sri Lankan batters through the wringer despite Kamindu Mendis’ fine fifty, restricting them for a vastly under-par 133 for eight.
Sent into bat, Sri Lanka made a woeful start, losing in-form Kusal Mendis in the second ball, and an over later Pathum Nissanka, their most consistent batter in the tournament, too walked back.
On a night that offered plenty of seam movement to pacers, Shaheen Shah Afridi (3/28) made the first strike, eliciting an uppish flick from Mendis that ended with Talat.
Nissanka smashed Afridi for a maximum but edged the very next ball to wicketkeeper Haris as Sri Lanka slipped to 18 for two.
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But skipper Charith Asalanka and Kusal Perera effected a mini recovery through a 25-run alliance for the third wicket. Asalanka and Perera looked in fine fettle as well, with both the batters finding a six each but the stand did not blossom.
Perera tried to chip pacer Haris Rauf over the circle but Faheem Ashraf took a well-judged diving catch to snap the partnership.
Sri Lanka ended the power play on a bittersweet note at 53 for three. But the bitterness soon overrode as the Lankans lost Asalanka and Dasun Shanaka in successive balls in the eighth over.
Pacer Talat drew Asalanka into a pull but there was no distance in it as Rauf took a simple catch near square leg.
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In the very next ball, Shanaka edged Talat to Haris behind the wicket as Sri Lanka were pushed down to 58 for five.
Mendis (50, 44 balls), who played some really delectable shots, tried to salvage something for the Lankans with a determined fifty and stitched 43 runs for the seventh wicket with Chamika Karunaratne to take them past 100.
