Kusal Mendis’ 91 and an unbeaten 49 by Charith Asalanka on Thursday helped Sri Lanka edge Pakistan by two wickets in a last-ball thriller at the Asia Cup to set up a final with India.
Chasing a revised target of 252 in the 42-overs-a-side contest in Colombo, Sri Lanka needed eight from the final over and achieved the target with Asalanka’s winning hit on the last ball at 1.07am.
A raucous home crowd rejoiced, but the result broke the heart of millions of fans awaiting an India-Pakistan final in the 50-over tournament, a prelude to the upcoming World Cup.
Photo: AFP
The left-handed Asalanka held his nerve despite Shaheen Shah Afridi’s two wickets in two balls in the penultimate over, and the first four balls from Zaman Khan giving away just two runs and a wicket in the 42nd over.
Mendis set up victory with a 100-run third-wicket stand with Sadeera Samarawickrama, who made 48, but Asalanka took it on himself after their departure.
“Kusal and Sadeera played brilliant knocks. I think they are the best players of spin in the Sri Lanka squad,” Sri Lanka skipper Dasun Shanaka said. “And Charith showed great character. Special feeling, back-to-back finals. I must thank the crowds who kept supporting us, and looking forward to the finals.”
Off-spinner Iftikhar Ahmed took three key wickets, including Mendis and Samarawickrama to keep the game in the balance until the last ball.
“In the middle overs, we are not bowling well,” Pakistan skipper Babar Azam said. “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.”
Earlier, Mohammad Rizwan hit an unbeaten 86 to steer Pakistan to 252-7 after they elected to bat first in the rain-delayed match.
Sri Lanka’s bowlers took regular early wickets to check Pakistan’s scoring, but Rizwan hit back with his 12th one-day international half-century and a 108-run stand with Iftikhar, who made 47.
Fast bowler Pramod Madushan struck first as he bowled Fakhar Zaman for 4 with a yorker that raised the decibels in the ground.
Abdullah Shafique (52) and skipper Azam (29) then rebuilt the innings in their stand of 63, despite surviving a few close calls, including an leg before wicket review off Dunith Wellalage.
Azam looked to be getting into his groove with a few boundaries, but was stumped off Wellalage.
Shafique stood strong and hit two sixes en route to his maiden half-century, but soon fell to fast bowler Matheesha Pathirana, who quickly struck again.
Pakistan returned from a rain break on 130-5 with Rizwan digging deep and he got support from Iftikhar, who took his time to get his rhythm and hit two sixes in his 40-ball knock.
Pathirana sent back Iftikhar for his third wicket and Madushan took one more scalp of his own late on, but Rizwan remained unbeaten and finished with a boundary.
Shohei Ohtani and Clayton Kershaw on Friday joined their Los Angeles Dodgers teammates in sticking their fists out to show off their glittering World Series rings at a ceremony. “There’s just a lot of excitement, probably more than I can ever recall with the Dodger fan base and our players,” manager Dave Roberts said before Los Angeles rallied to beat the Detroit Tigers 8-5 in 10 innings. “What a way to cap off the first two days of celebrations,” Roberts said afterward. “By far the best opening week I’ve ever experienced. I just couldn’t have scripted it any better.” A choir in the
The famously raucous Hong Kong Sevens are to start today in a big test for a shiny new stadium at the heart of a major US$3.85 billion sports park in the territory. Officials are keeping their fingers crossed that the premier event in Hong Kong’s sporting and social calendar goes off without a hitch at the 50,000-seat Kai Tak Stadium. They hope to entice major European soccer teams to visit in the next few months, with reports in December last year saying that Liverpool were in talks about a pre-season tour. Coldplay are to perform there next month, all part of Hong Kong’s
Shohei Ohtani, Teoscar Hernandez and Tommy Edman on Thursday smashed home runs to give the reigning World Series champions the Los Angeles Dodgers a 5-4 victory over Detroit on the MLB’s opening day in the US. The Dodgers, who won two season-opening games in Tokyo last week, raised their championship banner on a day when 28 clubs launched the season in the US. Dodgers manager Dave Roberts shuffled his batting lineup with all four leadoff hitters finally healthy as Ohtani was followed by Mookie Betts, then Hernandez and Freddie Freeman in the cleanup spot, switching places with Hernandez. “There’s a Teoscar tax to
Marcus Rashford’s first goals for Aston Villa on Sunday inspired a 3-0 win against Preston North End that sent his side into the FA Cup semi-finals for the first time in 10 years. Rashford struck twice in the second half at Deepdale to end Preston’s stubborn resistance before Jacob Ramsey wrapped up Villa’s long-awaited return to the last four. Villa are to face Crystal Palace — 3-0 winners at Fulham on Saturday — in the semi-finals at Wembley Stadium in London. Revitalized since joining Villa on loan from Manchester United during the January transfer window, Rashford is beginning to show the form that
RSS