Abu Dhabi: A brilliant bowling performance by Pakistan, led by pacer Shaheen Shah Afridi (3-28), helped restrict Sri Lanka to 133/8 in 20 overs in a must-win Super 4 match of the Men’s T20 Asia Cup at the Zayed Cricket Stadium, here on Tuesday.
With both Pakistan and Sri Lanka losing their first matches of the Super 4 stage, both needed to win the match to keep alive their chances of reaching the final. But Pakistan came out firing on all cylinders after skipper Salman Agha opted to field first.
On a wicket that looked good for batting, Shaheen Afridi struck off the second ball of the first over, and then, in the third over, as with Haris Rauf and Hossain Talat contributing superbly, Pakistan had Sri Lanka struggling at 58/5. Spinner Abrar Ahmed bowled a superbly restrictive line for 1-8 in four overs as Pakistan dominated the middle overs.
Kamindu Mendis struck a superb rearguard half-century (50 off 44, 3×4, 2×6), which propelled Sri Lanka to a modest total of 133/8, which may not prove enough in the final analysis.
Earlier, Sri Lanka got off to an atrocious start as Shaheen Afridi struck on the second ball of his first over, striking a vital blow as the opener flicked a delivery that stopped a bit after pitching, off his pads straight to Hussain Talat at short mid-wicket.
Afridi was at it again in his second over, getting the dangerous Pathum Nissanka (8 off 7, 1×6) to offer an easy catch to Mohammad Haris in the third over as Sri Lanka slumped to 18/2. And when Haris Rauf got Kusal Perera to play uppishly to a seam-up delivery angling in full on middle, and Faheem Ashraf plucked a nice catch as the extra bounce did the batter, Sri Lanka were in real trouble..
Sri Lanka reached 53/3 at the end of the Power-play with Charith (20 off 19, — 2×4,1×6) slamming a four and a six off Rauf. But things went from bad to worse for them as Hussain Talat bagged two wickets off successive balls in the eighth over, getting the Sri Lanka skipper and the dangerman Dasun Shanaka, who hammered a fifty in their first match of Super 4s against Bangladesh. Sri Lanka slumped to a precarious 58/5 and looked in danger of failing to reach 100.
The pitch was good for batting, but it was a combination of some good seam bowling and poor application with the bat by the Sri Lankan batters that pushed them into further trouble.
Wanindu Hasaranga survived the hat-trick ball and struck a four off the sixth ball of the over to avoid a double-wicket maiden. He and Kamindu Mendis attempted to repair the innings, but it did not. It became 80/6 soon as Hasaranga (15 off 13) tried to slog a pitched-up wrong ‘un by Abrar Ahmed, which spun unexpectedly and crashed into the stumps.
Kamindu Mendis waged a lone battle, stroking to a half-century and sharing a 43-run partnership with Chamika Karunaratne for the seventh wicket. He struck a couple of big ones in the death as he helped them cross the 100-run mark. But Afridi got him as his third victim in the 19th over, trapping him with a toe-crusher on the middle and leg. The on-field umpire negated the huge appeal, but DRS ruled otherwise.
Sri Lanka eventually managed to reach a modest 133/8, leaving themselves a huge mountain to climb.
Brief scores:
Sri Lanka 133/8 in 20 overs (Kamindu Mendis 50, Charith Asalanka 20; Shaheen Shah Afridi 3-28, Hussain Talat 2-18, Haris Rauf 2-37) against Pakistan.
(IANS)
