Sri Lanka are taking on Pakistan in the ‘dress rehearsal’ for the Sunday night’s final in Asia Cup 2022, as the two sides clash in the last match of the Super 4 stage. Both teams won their first two matches of the Super 4 to book a place in the final, and will be aiming to keep the momentum ahead of the all-important final on September 11. Dasun Shanaka, the Sri Lankan captain, won the toss and expectedly invited the Babar Azam-led Pakistan side to bat first in Dubai.
Pakistan did lose the early wicket of Mohammad Rizwan as debutant Pramod Madushan dismissed him early in the innings (14 off 14 balls). Fakhar Zaman, then, built a partnership with Babar Azam but on the final delivery of the sixth over, the Pakistan no.3 batter had a lucky escape.
Facing Madushan, Fakhar backed away to play the punch on the length delivery and gets an inside edge that rolls through the elbow. The ball, then, rolls back to the stumps and kisses the stumps, but the impact wasn’t enough to dislodge the bails.
Watch the moment here:
Madushan couldn’t suppress letting off a smile as Fakhar got a lucky reprieve in the innings. However, the pacer wouldn’t be too disappointed with his outing so far as he had dismissed the in-form Rizwan early with a short-pitched delivery in the very first over of his T20I career.
Earlier, Pakistan qualified for the final of the Asia Cup after wins over India and Afghanistan, while Sri Lanka had also registered comfortable wins against both sides to book a place in the title clash. India, meanwhile, ended their Asia Cup campaign on Thursday with a win over Afghanistan, that also saw star batter Virat Kohli ending a long wait for an international century – he remained unbeaten on 122 off 61 deliveries.
Trending Topics to Follow
