Sri Lanka vs Pakistan, Asia Cup 2022 Super 4: Hasaranga’s spell, Nissanka’s batting masterclass and other talking points – Firstcricket News, Firstpost

Sri Lanka continued their form in the Super 4 stage of the Asia Cup 2022 as they registered a win against Pakistan by five wickets in Dubai. Chasing 122, the Lankan side suffered some early hiccups but Pathum Nissanka held the fort at one end and anchored the side to a victory eventually.

The two sides will now meet each other in the final on Sunday in Dubai.

We now take a look at five talking points of the game:

Pakistan’s batting woes

Pakistan had struggled with the bat against Afghanistan in their last fixture after they lost nine wickets while chasing 130 in 20 overs. The Babar Azam-led team eventually went over the line after Naseem Shah hit two maximums in the final over.

The side once again suffered a collapse in this final Super 4 match of the Asia Cup 2022 and was bowled out for 121 in 19.1 overs. Paksitan after being put into bat had a decent start to the proceedings as Rizwan and Babar put up 28 runs within four overs before the wicket-keeper batter was caught in the deep by Kusal Mendis off Pramod Madushan.

Babar was then joined by Fakhar Zaman and the two stitched a stand 35 runs for the second wicket. Fakhar was later caught in the deep by Hasaranga off Karunaratne for 13 off 18. The left-handed batter’s wicket was followed by a flurry of dismissals as Pakistan were left tottering at 110/8 before getting bundled out for 121. Babar Azam top-scored with 30 off 29.

Wanindu Hasaranga’s spell

Wanindu Hasaranga rattled Pakistan as the spinner scalped a three-wicket haul. The right-arm bowler deceived the batters with his googlies and returned with figures of 3/21 in 4 overs. His dismissals included the wickets of Babar Azam, Iftikhar Ahmed and Asif Ali.

Babar stepped out on a tossed up delivery from the spinner and went for the big stroke but was deceived with the pace and turn and was cleaned up. Later, Iftikhar hit him for a maximum on a delivery that came into the right-hander. Hasaranga bowled a similar ball next up but pulled the length a bit. Iftikhar who went for the slog sweep once again completely missed the ball and it hit the stumps behind.

Asif Ali who was Hasaranga’s third wicket didn’t judge the line of the ball. The spinner bowled a length ball, just outside off and it turned into the right-hander sharply to breach Asif’s defence completely to give Hasaranga his third scalp.

Hasaranga was adjudged Player of the match for his performance as well.

Sri Lanka’s shaky start

Pakistan pacers Hasnain and Haris Rauf troubled the Sri Lankan batters with the pace and bounce and didn’t let them score runs freely in the powerplay overs. The Lankan side lost three wickets in the first five overs. Hasnain provided the first breakthrough in the first over after he got rid of Kusal Mendis after he was caught in the slips for 0.

Haris Rauf then followed it with another wicket in the second over of the innings as he removed Danushka Gunathilaka for 0. Gunathilaka was caught behind by Rizwan who put in a dive to his left and took a good catch. Later, Rauf picked up another wicket on teh final ball of the fifth over. Dhananjaya de Silva tried to go for the big shot against the pacer but miscued his pull shot and was caught on the on side by Babar Azam for 9. Sri Lanka were reduced to 29/3 in 5 overs.

Pathum Nissanka masterclass

While Sri Lanka lost three wickets inside the powerplay, opener Pathum Nissanka held the fort at one end and took on the bowlers as and when required. He started off with Hasan Ali and struck him three fours in just one over. Nissanka also stitched crucial partnerships with Bhanuka Rajapaksa and Dasun Shanaka that eventually helped Sri Lanka come out of a tricky situation.

Rajapaksa and Nissanka put up 51 runs for the fourth wicket before Rajapaksa was sent back for 24 off 19. Nissanka was then joined by Shanaka and the two scored 33 runs for the fifth wicket. The skipper was out for 21 off 16 but the two partnerships had brought Sri Lanka back in the hunt.

Nissanka eventually remained unbeaten at 55 off 48 as Sri Lanka won by 5 wickets.

Stunner from Hasan Ali

Hasan Ali showed great athleticism on the field as he took a blinder to dismiss Dasun Shanaka for 21 off 16. Mohammad Hasnain bowled an off cutter to Shanaka who went for the slog down the ground. Hasan Ali ran back from the mid off while a fielder also converged from the long on area. But Hasan evaded fielder and also managed to hold on the catch.

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