Mendis, Asalanka help Sri Lanka overcome Pakistan by 2 wickets, reach final

Charith Asalanka struck a brilliant unbeaten 49 after Kusal Mendis 91 and Sadeera Samarawickrama 48 laid the foundation with a century stand and guided defending champions ri Lanka to a twowicket victory against Pakistan in a thrilling final Super 4 match and into the final of the Asia CupSri Lanka made it to the final for the 11th time in the Asia Cup and will meet India in the final This is their second final in a rowChasing a DLS readjusted target of 252 in a raintruncated 42oversaside match that ended well past midnight Sri Lanka rode on a superb performance by their middle order after Pakistan had recovered from 1305 to post 252 thanks to a memorable rearguard partnership between Mohammad Rizwan 86 not out and Iftikhar Ahmed 47But Sri Lanka survived some anxious moments in the last two overs to scrap through to the final And it was Kusal Mendis that held the Sri Lanka innings together that set them up for victoryAlso ReadTesting times for Shreyas IyerComing in after Sri Lanka lost Kusal Perera 17 with the score reading 20 Mendis added 57 runs for the second wicket with Pathun Nissanka 29 and then added exactly 100 runs for the third wicket with Sadeera Samarawickrama 48 to take Sri Lanka to 1772While Samarawickrama missed his halfcentury Mendis coincidentally also failed to achieve a landmark as he was out for 91 caught by Mohammad Haris off Iftikhar Ahmed for 91 He hammered eight boundaries and one six in his fine inningsBut by the time he was out Mendis had already guided Sri Lanka to a strong position He completed his halfcentury off 47 balls hitting five boundaries He and Samarawickrama raised 50 of their partnership and the century of their partnership in 97 balls as Sri Lanka remained on course This was the second time that Mendis got out in the nervous 90s in this Asia CupAfter Mendis was out skipper Dasun Shanaka did not last long and was out for 2 going for a big hit Sri Lanka fell to 2225 Charith Asalanka guided the hosts to victory with an unbeaten 49 in an edgeoftheseat thriller as they lost a couple of wickets in one eventful Afridi over Sri Lanka needed seven runs off the last six deliveries but Zaman Khan did well to keep it down to six off 2 before Asalanka came good his nerves of steel as Sri Lanka reached 2528 in 42 oversEarlier Pakistan rode on a superb rearguard 108run partnership between Mohammad Rizwan and Iftikhar Ahmed the highest for the sixth wicket in the Asia Cup after the early fall of wickets to post 2527 in 42 overs in a raindelayed matchThe start for Pakistan wasnrsquot what they expected as yet again Falkhar Zaman departed early Skipper Babar Azam and Abdullah Shafique held the inning and added 64 runs for the second wicket as Shafique reached his halfcenturyBabar yet again became the prey of a leftarm spinner as Dunith Wellalage pulled him forward in defense and got his wicketPakistan were in a spot of bother at 1305 after 274 overs but then rain interrupted play and pretty much turned their fortunes The ball started spinning less and got a bit damp as Ifthikhar and Rizwan took full advantage of the better batting conditionsBoth the batters showed calmness and played less risky shots but managed to pull the game in the death overs The superb partnership added 108 runs on the score for the sixth wicket which is now the highest in ODI in the Asia Cup for PakistanRizwan turned up a gear to rack up a 73ball 86 while Iftikhar Ahmed hammered 47 off 40Matheesa Pathirana was the star with the ball gave an early shock to Pakistan and sent wellset Abdullah Shafique and Mohammad Harris before he ended his spell with figures of 3 for 65 in 8 oversAfter DLS adjustment a run has been taken off Sri Lankas target Pakistan finished at 252 Sri Lankas target will also be 252 in 42 oversBrief scorePakistan 2527 in 42 overs DLS Mohammad Rizwan 86 Abdullah Shafique 52 Matheesa Pathirana 365 Maheesh Theekshana 142 lost to Sri Lanka 2528 in 42 overs Kusal Mendis 91 Sadeera Samarawickrama 48 Charith Asalanka 49 not out Iftikhar Ahmed 350 Shaheen Shah Afridi 252 by two wicketsThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever