Asia Cup 2023

Babar Azam reflects on Pakistan getting knocked out of Asia Cup 2023 after loss against Sri Lanka

Colombo was the venue as Pakistan and Sri Lanka locked horns in the crucial Super -4 game of Asia Cup 2023. The match turned out to be a thrilling affair after Sri […]

Sep 15, 2023 1:10 pm

Colombo was the venue as Pakistan and Sri Lanka locked horns in the crucial Super -4 game of Asia Cup 2023. The match turned out to be a thrilling affair after Sri Lanka won the game in the last ball. The Asia Cup 2023 finals will now witness the encounter between current holders Sri Lanka and India on Sunday.

Pakistan came into the game on the back of a huge loss by 228 runs to India. This was followed by injuries of their two main pacers. Naseem Shah was ruled out of the tournament while Haris Rauf was benched. Zaman Khan made his ODI debut as Mohammad Wasim Jr was drafted in as well. Abdullah Shafique and Mohammad Nawaz were the other two changes for the Pakistani side. Sri Lanka made two changes as Pramod Madushan came in for Kasun Rajitha and Kusal Perera came in for Dimuth Karunaratne.

Babar Azam introspects post the heartbreaking loss

Pakistani skipper Babar Azam tried to put on a brave face at the end of the game. Babar Azam said “We just decided to bowl our best overs and asked Shaheen to bowl the second last over and believed in Zaman. Sri Lanka played very well, better cricket than us.” Babar Azam while speaking on the loss further added “We have not been up to the mark in the bowling and fielding. That is why we lost the match. In the middle overs, we did not bowl well. That partnership cost us. We started well, ended well, but middle overs were not great. We have lacked that,”

Earlier batting first and winning the toss, Pakistan scored 252 from their 42 overs. The match started late due to rain and was reduced to 45 overs. Three more overs were cut after rains came down to stop the play for a few minutes. Mohammad Rizwan was the top scorer with 86 runs and Abdullah Shafique scored 52. Babar Azam could only score 29 with the bat as he was dismissed by Wellalage. Iftikhar Ahmed gave the finishing touches with a quick-fire 47.

Chasing a revised target of 252, Sri Lankan chase was spearheaded by Kusal Mendis. The right-handed batter scored 91 runs. Kusal Mendis was ably supported by Sadeera Samarawickrama who scored 48.

The biggest contribution was from Charith Asalanka with 49 not out off 47 balls with 3 fours and a six. With 6 runs needed from 2 balls, Asalanka got a thick outside edge for four. The left-hander then nudged the ball beyond square leg to take the two runs needed for a win and qualify for the final on Sunday.