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| Pakistan ODI debut pacer Zaman Khan bowled the thrilling last over. Photo: Social Media |
Asia Cup 2023: Sri Lanka on Thursday defeated Pakistan in a thriller Super 4 match to play the final with India.
Sri Lanka needed 2 runs on the last ball to win, Sri Lanka achieved Pakistan's target of 252 runs at the loss of 8 wickets on the last ball of the match, Kusal Mendis scored 91 runs.
With this win, Sri Lanka reached the final of the Asia Cup where they will face India on Sunday.
Pakistan won the toss and elected to bat first against Sri Lanka in the super four stage of the Asia Cup in Colombo.
Pakistan scored 42 runs for 7 wickets in 252 overs in the rain-affected match, the target under the Duckworth-Lewis method was also 252 runs.
Pakistan scored 27 runs for 4 wickets in 5.130 overs when the match was stopped due to rain, but after stopping play for some time, the match was resumed, and the match was reduced to 45 to 42 overs per innings.
Decided on the final delivery as Sri Lanka win by 2️⃣ wickets 🏏
— Pakistan Cricket (@TheRealPCB) September 14, 2023
Great fight shown by the boys 👏#PAKvSL | #AsiaCup2023 pic.twitter.com/nZgtLcPVVT
Chasing Pakistan's target of 252 runs, Sri Lanka batted cautiously from the beginning, despite the fall of wickets, Sri Lankan batters kept scoring.
The match at one point during the last over was in favour of the away side, thanks to Zaman Khan's brilliance, as they just needed to defend six runs in the last two balls.
Asalanka got an outside edge on the second last ball of the match and the ball touched the boundary line.
Sri Lanka needed two off one when Zaman bowled a slower length ball on the pads, but the left-handed batter held his nerves and played a simple shot towards the deep square leg fence and celebrated as he ran two across the pitch to guide his side to a historic win.
In this way, Sri Lanka won the match by taking 2 runs on the last ball of the last over, making it to the final with India on Sunday, 17 September.
