On Thursday, September 14, Pakistan lost to Dasun Shanaka’s Sri Lanka in the Asia Cup 2023 Super Four game.But captain Babar Azam and his group discovered that they were lacking in a number of areas, which resulted in elimination from the competition.
As Sri Lanka successfully pursued a difficult target, Pakistan lost the match—often referred to as a virtual semifinal—by two wickets. With Sri Lanka needing eight runs to win, the final over was frantic. Zaman Khan fought everything he had, but Charith Asalanka finished the race unbeaten on 49, giving his side the victory.
Shaheen Shah Afridi, who played for Pakistan, became the game’s hero earlier on by bowling a fantastic penultimate over. He grabbed two wickets, giving up just four runs while removing Dhananjaya de Silva and Dunith Wellalage.
In the post-game news conference, captain Babar Azam discussed the outcome of the game and said, “We just decided to bowl our best overs and requested Shaheen to bowl the second last over and believed in Zaman. Sri Lanka played extremely well, outplaying us in cricket.
Babar Azam agreed that Pakistan had allowed Sri Lanka to gain the upper hand during the significant 100-run third-wicket partnership between Sadeera Samarawickrama and Kusal Mendis.
In terms of bowling and fielding, we have fallen short of expectations. That is the reason we lost the game. We didn’t bowl well in the middle overs. That alliance cost us money. The middle overs weren’t terrific, but we got off to a good start and a good finish. We haven’t had that, he continued.
The top batsman for Sri Lanka throughout their innings was Kusal Mendis, who amassed a remarkable 91 runs before being struck out by Iftikhar Ahmed. But his assistance had already made it possible for Sri Lanka to take the lead.
With this victory, Sri Lankan qualified for the Asia Cup final and will take on India on September 17 in a highly anticipated match. A final match between India and Pakistan has been anticipated by the cricketing world for nearly 40 years, which is notable.
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