In less than 24 hours, Asian Cricket will witness either Sri Lanka or Pakistan hold the prestigious Asia Cup 2022 trophy aloft. Both the teams began the tournament with a loss, but have come back strong to make the final. Sri Lanka on Friday beat Pakistan in what was a sneak peek ahead of the final.
The story as it happened –
Sri Lanka and Pakistan played each other on Friday in the last game of the Super 4 stage. The Dasun Shanaka led side won the game by 5 wickets with 18 balls to go to stay unbeaten through the tournament. The game on Sunday is special for Sri Lanka because they had a horrendous start to the 2022 Asia Cup tournament when they lost to Afghanistan.
Pakistan reporter’s question is straight batted by Hasaranga –
The mind games ahead of the big game is at full play as the Pakistani reporters showed with a question asked to Wanindu Hasaranga. The leg spinner had picked 3/21 in the game on Friday and scored 10 with the bat in the win for the Sri Lankan side. Post the game, Hasaranga was asked “Do you think Naseem Shah will give you a tough time in the final?. Hasaranga looked at the scribe and just muttered “we will see in the final”.
Pakistan had rested Naseem Shah and Shadab Khan –
For the game on Friday, Babar Azam had made two changes as he got in Hasan Ali for Naseem Shah and Usman Qadir for Shadab Khan. It was a like for like replacement for the duo who had played all the game so far. Naseem Shah playing his first ever T20 tournament made his debut against India in the first game of the tournament.
Naseem Shah the hero against Afghanistan –
Naseem Shah who has impressed one and all with his bowling and his pace, was the hero on Wednesday. With 11 needed off the last over against Afghanistan, Shah struck two back to back sixes to seal the deal for Pakistan. This win not only confirmed a place in the final, but also knocked India out of contention for a place in the final.