Pakistan Cricket team who were in need of winning their last Super Four game of the Asia Cup 2023 against Sri Lanka lost the game by 2 wickets and missed their chance of playing the Aisa Cup 2023 final.
Babar Azam on Missing Asia Cup 2023 Final
As rain intervened in the game the officials decided to reduce the game by 8 overs per innings. Pakistan who decided to bat first scored 252 runs at the end of 42 overs and failed to defend the target and lost the game by 2 wickets.
Speaking on the defeat, Pakistan captain Babar Azam said “In the end, we decided to bowl our best bowlers. That’s why I decided to bowl Shaheen the second last over and then we believed in Zaman Khan for the final over. SL played really well, they played better cricket than us, that’s why they won”.
“We weren’t up to the mark with our bowling and fielding, that’s why we lost. (One major factor that could have been different) In the middle overs, we are not bowling well. That partnership (between Mendis and Samarawickrama) cost us. We are starting well, we are finishing well, but we are not taking wickets in the middle overs”, Babar added.
Winning the toss, Pakistan chose to bat where Shafique and Fakhar Zaman opened for Pakistan while Pramod Madushan opened a bowling attack. Shafique had a good start scoring 52 runs and Fakhar Zaman was sent out with four runs by Pramod Madushan. After Babar Azam’s dismissal with 29 runs on 35 deliveries by Dunith Wellalage, Shafique was sent out by Pathirana. With his dismissal, Pakistan was down to three wickets for 100 runs.
Rizwan backed Pakistan by scoring an unbeaten 86 runs on 73 deliveries which includes six boundaries and 2 sixes. Mohammad Haris and Mohammad Nawaz were sent out with 3 and 12 runs respectively. With Iftikhar Ahmed’s 47 runs, Pakistan scored 252 runs after losing seven wickets at the end of the allotted 42 overs.
Pathum Nissanka and Kusal Perera opened for Sri Lanka while Shaheen Afridi opened the bowling attack. Kusal Perera scored 17 runs and was dismissed on run out. Pathum Nissanka scored 29 runs and was sent out with 29 runs by Shadab Khan.
Kusal Mendia had scored 91 runs on 87 deliveries and Sadeera Samarawickrama scored 48 runs and was sent out by Iftikhar Ahmed. With Charith Asalanka’s 49 runs, other batters were sent out with low figures. Iftikhar Ahmed dismissed three wickets while Shaheen Afridi took 2 wickets and Shadab Khan dismissed one wicket.
Sri Lanka was in need of 8 runs from the last single over where Babar Azam trusted Zaman Khan to defend the total. Asalanka struck a boundary and scored a couple of runs in the last 2 deliveries and sealed Sri Lanka’s spot in the final set to play against India.
