Colombo (Sri Lanka): Sept 14: In a cliff hanger , Sri Lanka defeated Pakistan in a crucial contest to storm into the Asia Cup 2023 final here on Thursday . Sri Lanka will face off India in the final now.
Earlier ,Pakistan won the toss and decided to bat first . Pakistan’s beginning of the inning was not up to the mark. It suffered the first blow when opener Fakhar Zaman got out at his individual score of 4 runs . Then captain Babar Azam joined Abdullah Shafique in the middle who was batting confidently and keeping Pakistan ‘s scoreboard moving . Babar Azam got out when his individual score was 24 runs . Rizwan played a wonderful inning and scored 86 runs not out . Rizwan’s heroic inning took Pakistan’s score to 252 in restricted 42 overs.
.Sri Lanka offered quality play today. Its openers put a good stand for the rest of their team mates to play an aggressive game against Pakistan.. Shaheen Shah Afridi’s two wickets in the second last over had made an opportunity for Pakistan to come back in the game and win it also ,but Zaman Khan’s last over remained unimpressive .
Sri Lanka ‘s batsmen kept their nerves under control despite losing 7 wickets and won the match against Pakistan to propel Sri Lanka to the final of Asia Cup 2023.