“Cricket Clash of Titans: Pakistan vs Sri Lanka in a High-Stakes Asia Cup Super Four Showdown”

Asia Cup Super Four – Pakistan vs Sri Lanka, Colombo

By Sreshth Shah

Pathirana deadly with his variations

The short and fast ball proved too good for Shafique. And now the full and slow ball proves too much for Haris to handle. He meets Matheesha Pathirana on the front foot with hard hands and the lanky fast bowler recovers well on the follow-through to take a sharp reflex catch! Pakistan rattled at 108 for 4 and Pakistan have asked Nawaz to go in at No. 6, not Iftikhar Ahmed.

Shafique: Fifty and out

Abdullah Shafique has built his game around his textbook batting style, focusing on technicalities and relying on timing. That has earned him a maiden white-ball half-century in internationals, but soon after he is gone. Shafique looks to pull Pathirana, and that brings his downfall, out for a well-made 52. That’s another promising partnership broken, and Rizwan awaits at new batting partner. Pathirana returns strongly in his second spell and Pakistan are 100/3 in 22 overs.

Wellalage’s legend grows

It was Rohit and Kohli the other day. Today it is Babar Azam. Young left-arm spinner Wellalage has got the big wicket of the Pakistan captain, and it’s not a wicket that the batter has gifted to him – the 20-year-old has earned it. Very similar to how he got Shubman Gill dismissed, Wellalage gets a full ball from wide around the stumps to turn across Babar’s front-foot defense. Not only does Babar miss the connection… but he also overbalances. In Gill’s case, he wasn’t stumped because the ball hit the wicket anyway. This time, Kusal Mendis whips the bails off, and Babar’s back foot is in the air. Gone for 29 and Pakistan are 73/2 in 16 overs. From the other end, Theekshana spits some wrong’uns and sliders with the 12th man (crowd) joining in with every play and miss. Rizwan at No. 4 has a tough initiation in his first over.

#GoodForBatting

Shafique and Babar are offering low-risk, high-quality shots and the runs are flowing rather comfortably for Pakistan. They’ve steadied the innings, and their partnership of 50+ is going at a run-rate of more than six. Sri Lanka are not being able to put pressure either. Matheesha Pathirana had two expensive overs to start his spell today. And Shanaka goes back to Maheesh Theekshana to see if his variations can bring a breakthrough. Pakistan 72/1 in 15 overs. Talk on our ball-by-ball comms page is that Pakistan is on course for 280-300 in 45 overs. I’d be a bit more boring and say they’re better off batting steadily without losing too many wickets. Because in case their innings gets cut short (due to rain) and we have revised second-innings targets, then the number of wickets Pakistan has in hand will dictate the eventual DLS target at change of innings. For now, though, things are dry, and here’s hoping it stays that way.

Wellalage v Shafique

Dunith Wellalage loves a big occasion. His five-for against India included batters in the top six, and today, he has started off by very nearly getting Abdullah Shafique caught behind. Next over, it is only “umpire’s call” that saves Shafique from an LBW shout. But Shafique is a good player of spin, and he responds to that close shout with a six over long on. This has all the makings of a spicy battle with Shafique now growing in confidence after making slow progress against the new ball. Babar was very fluid and continues scoring at a good tempo. After scoring only 13 in five overs, Pakistan has gone at 5.8 rpo for the next six overs. Pakistan 48/1 in 11.

Ian Bishop has spoken

Magical Madushan

Pramod Madushan dismantled Fakhar Zaman’s stumps early. P-E-R-F-E-C-T. The best of the best would be stunned by that Pramod Madushan yorker… and Fakhar Zaman’s night with the bat is over. When it’s almost 140k, dipping late, swinging into the toes, and the batter is off-balance – the stumps have their fate decided. Babar Azam, the world’s No. 1 ODI batter, now walks in. He’s scored 10 and 17 after that Nepal century. Pakistan 13/1 after five.

Will Fakhar redeem himself?

Fakhar Zaman has been given an extra life. With Imam unavailable today due to a back spasm, Fakhar has one chance to regain the team management’s confidence, having lost it less than 24 hours ago. Abdullah Shafique will open alongside him, with Haris carded at No. 5.

Pakistan do a U-turn

Pakistan announced five changes yesterday. But they’ve had to tear that sheet apart because they’ve had to make two changes to that changed XI. Forced change according to Babar Azam, who won the toss and chose to bat. Imam Ul Haq has picked up a back spasm today, and Fakhar Zaman – dropped yesterday – is his replacement. Saud Shakeel – who was supposed to replace Agha Salman in the team – has picked up an illness, and therefore Abdullah Shafique will come in. Sri Lanka with two changes. Pramod Madushan replaces Kasun Rajitha while Kusal Perera is back (!), in place of Dimuth Karunaratne. Kusal Perera last played an ODI in 2021 and is the kind of batter who could be a gamechanger in rain-hit, short games.

First ball at 5.15 pm local.

Toss at 5.00 pm, start at 5.15 pm. 45 overs per side. Powerplays: 9 overs, 27 overs, 9 overs. Pitch report: Same pitch as Sri Lanka v Bangladesh game – where Sri Lanka’s score of 250 was enough. Dominic Cork says, “I’d like to bowl first, try and restrict, chase under lights.”

Update: Match conditions

For a 20-overs-a-side game, play must start by 9.02 pm local. So there’s plenty of time for a game to happen today. We start losing overs from 4.30 pm local. As of now (4.40 pm local), the drizzle has eased up, and some covers are being removed.

SL, ODI cricket, and ICC rankings

I find it very interesting that Sri Lanka, considered by most experts as favorites today, and who only recently were snapped off a 13-match winning streak, are ranked No. 8 in the ICC ODI Rankings. Even today, the perception is that SL are favorites against Pakistan. It’s not just Pakistan‘s “so-called fragile” XI that makes them favorites because SL themselves are hit by a long injury list. So that made me wonder, how strong do you think SL’s chances are at the ODI World Cup because if we just went by the rankings, they’re set for a very poor finish.

Tackling rain – the Sri Lankan way

With rain settling in and the toss not expected very soon, it’s a good time to check out why Sri Lanka’s groundstaff is considered the best in world cricket. S Sudarshanan with this excellent video report:

Kumble, Maharoof, Mumtaz in conversation

The 2.50 pm toss has been delayed further with rain returning again. Till then, catch Anil Kumble, Urooj Mumtaz, and Farveez Maharoof LIVE on Match Day

We have our first delay

We have the first mood-killer of the afternoon. The toss delayed to 2.50 pm local. With rain predicted later as well, today’s game could be a shortened fixture. For now, we have a full game with the first ball at 3.15 pm local.

This is not the same Pakistan

The Pakistan XI that turned up for the opening game of the Asia Cup is vastly different from their XI today. Concerns over injury and form have forced Pakistan to make FIVE changes. Out-of-form Fakhar Zaman has been replaced by Mohammad Haris. Agha Salman’s cut to his face has kept him out, with Saud Shakeel replacing him. Mohammad Wasim and Zaman Khan will replace Naseem Shah and Haris Rauf, and Mohammad Nawaz is back in place of Faheem Ashraf. Pakistan suddenly finds themselves in a fast-bowling crisis with Zaman (and Shahnawaz Dahani) being flown in from Pakistan. Sri Lanka, who look far more settled, have a real opportunity here to make use of Pakistan‘s frailties in a few departments. They should play an unchanged team.

Welcome: all or nothing

On the back of defeats at the hands of India, Pakistan vs Sri Lanka has turned out to be a knockout fixture. The winner meets India in the final, the loser says goodbye to the Asia Cup. What a cracker we have in store with a chance to see which players stand up on the big occasion and which players fizzle out when the stakes are high. Worth a reminder, though, that if the game is washed out (always a possibility), Sri Lanka will qualify into the final on the virtue of a better NRR. Pakistan‘s NRR took a mighty hit in their 228-run defeat against India, and there’s been a bit of drizzle in the air.