This was a must-win game for both Sri Lanka and Pakistan as both teams lost their first match of the Super-Fours. The Sheikh Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi was the venue for this game, and it was the last match at this venue of the Asia Cup 2025. Eventually, Pakistan beat Sri Lanka by 5 wickets to keep their hopes alive for the Asia Cup 2025 final.
The Pakistan team captain, Salman Agha, won the toss and decided that his team would chase on this wicket. There were no changes to the Pakistan starting eleven that played against India. Sri Lanka’s captain, Charith Asalanka, also wanted to field first. He made two changes to the team that played against Bangladesh. Maheesh Theekshana and Chamika Karunaratne were the changes.
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Pakistan beat Sri Lanka by 5 wickets to keep their hopes alive for the Asia Cup 2025 final
The Sri Lankan team did not start the game on the front foot as Shaheen Shah Afridi dismissed Kusal Mendis on the second ball. Afridi again dismissed Sri Lanka’s star batter of the Asia Cup 2025, Pathum Nissanka, in the third over. Sri Lanka was trying to build an innings but couldn’t do so.
Kamindu Mendis was the player who scored a half-century, and he was also dismissed by Shaheen Shah Afridi. Sri Lanka scored 133/8 in their 20 overs. Shaheen was the pick of the bowlers as he had 3/28 in his four overs, whereas Haris Rauf and Hussain Talat got two wickets each.
Sahibzada Farhan and Fakhar Zaman have given Pakistan a great start as they added 45 for the first wicket. After that, they lost four back-to-back wickets just for 12 runs, making the score 57/4. The game was 50/50 at this moment.
Hussain Talat and Mohammad Nawaz played vital knocks of 32* and 38*. They added 58 runs and were not out, and finished the match. Pakistan’s final score was 138/5 in 18 overs. Maheesh Theekshana and Wanindu Hasaranga both got two wickets each.
Hussain Talat was the Man of the Match for his all-round performance. He scored 32 runs in 30 balls, whereas he also got 2/18 in his 3 overs. Sri Lanka is out of the Asia Cup 2025 as they lost both of their matches. Pakistan would pray that India beats Bangladesh tonight, as this will make things easy for them. They play Bangladesh on 25th September, which will be kind of a semi-final for both teams.
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