Pakistan won the toss and are fielding first against Sri Lanka, as both sides look to register their first win in the Super Four stage of the men’s Asia Cup in Abu Dhabi on Tuesday.
Pakistan are playing their first match of the tournament in Abu Dhabi, where the scores are generally higher than in Dubai.
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Over 5 — Sri Lanka – 38-2
Shaheen returns after his double-strike in the first 2 overs.
Over 4 — Sri Lanka – 36-2
3.3: Asalanka cuts Faheem for a boundary through backward point.
3.4: The Sri Lankan skipper follows it up with a hack over mid-on that evades the waiting fielder — the ball trickles to the boundary for back-to-back boundaries.
Over 3 — Sri Lanka – 28-2
2.2: Pathum Nissanka greets Shaheen with a six down the ground but the left-arm pacer has his man the very next ball!
2.4: Slower delivery by Shaheen on a free hit, and the Sri Lankan captain Charith Asalanka dispatches it for six!
Nissanka doubled the sixes column with another beautiful shot, but Shaheen bounced back with yet another wicket as the opener nicked it to the keeper. The left-armer followed that up with a dangerous beamer before Perera pulled for six again off the free-hit.
Over 2 — Sri Lanka – 12-1
Faheem Ashraf into the attack.
Pakistan’s old tormentor with the bat, Kusal Perera, greets Faheem with a six over mid-wicket!
Perera’s extraordinary flick of wrists for six off Faheem Ashraf gives Sri Lanka confidence after the early wicket. But there were encouraging signs for the bowler as well as the ball seamed big off the surface.
Over 1 — Sri Lanka – 4-1
Shaheen Afridi has the new ball.
Shaheen brings the first ball into Pathum Nissanka.
Pakistan draw first blood! Kusal Mendis gets a leading edge and Hussain Talat grabs an easy chance at mid-wicket.
An early breakthrough for Pakistan in the very first over has given them a flying start and Shaheen Shah Afridi must be licking his lips with the seam on offer. While Kusal Mendis’ dismissal came off a shot from the middle of his bat, Shaheen followed it with sharp outswing against Pathum Nissanka.
Anthems:
The Sri Lankan anthem is being played first.
The Pakistani anthem follows.
Pitch report:
“It looks beautiful,” former New Zealand cricketer Simon Doull said in the pitch report.
“There is a nice grass covering, and that should help the ball come onto the bat,” he said, adding that there might be a bit of early help for the pacers, and Doull reckons there may not be a lot of spin.
Dawn’s Mir Shabbar Ali reckons that the pitch is a batting-friendly one and will reward good cricketing shots as it did for Oman in their fighting loss against India in the Group A fixture —the last match played on this venue.
Sri Lanka also chased down a decent target set by Afghanistan in their group match on this surface. But in that game only, Nuwan Thushara’s slingy pace bowling flourished early on, which shall be a good sign for not only Thushara but Pakistan’s in-form bowler Haris Rauf as well.
Teams:
The Green Shirts are unchanged from their last encounter against India on Sunday.
Pakistan: Sahibzada Farhan, Fakhar Zaman, Saim Ayub, Salman Ali Agha (captain), Hussain Talat, Mohammad Nawaz, Mohammad Haris, Faheem Ashraf, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Abrar Ahmed, and Haris Rauf.
Sri Lanka: Pathum Nissanka, Kusal Mendis (wicket-keeper), Kusal Perera, Charith Asalanka (captain), Dasun Shanaka, Kamindu Mendis, Wanindu Hasaranga, Chamika Karunaratne, Maheesh Theekshana, Dushmantha Chameera, and Nuwan Thushara.
Reeling from early setbacks in the Super Four stage, both Pakistan and Sri Lanka will be desperate to register their first win in this critical stage of the Asia Cup.
Defending champions Sri Lanka, who breezed through the group stage unbeaten, were jolted by a four-wicket loss to Bangladesh in their Super Four opener. The defeat not only disrupted their rhythm but also snapped an impressive eight-match winning streak in the Asia Cup.
On the other hand, off-field issues have dominated headlines around the Pakistan team, overshadowing their middling performances on the field. They are in a spot of trouble after suffering yet another humbling defeat at the hands of arch-rivals India on Sunday, their second loss to their archrivals in this tournament.
India and Bangladesh have two points each, with Suryakumar Yadav’s men leading the standings owing to a superior net run-rate. Sri Lanka and Pakistan occupy the third and fourth spots, respectively.
With little time for recovery, Pakistan skipper Salman Ali Agha and his side now face a must-win situation under mounting pressure.
