Pakistan keep Asia Cup hopes alive with win over Sri Lanka

A fine all-round performance by Hussain Talat (2-18, 32 not out), who shared an unbeaten 58-run stand with Mohammad Nawaz (38 not out), helped Pakistan overcome Sri Lanka by five wickets in a hard-fought, low-scoring encounter in the Super Four stage of the Asia Cup in Abu Dhabi on Tuesday.

Talat and Mohammad Nawaz came together with Pakistan struggling at 80/5 in their chase of Sri Lanka's modest total of 133/8 and guided them to victory as Pakistan reached 138/5 with 12 balls to spare.

The victory revived Pakistan's hopes of reaching the final after they had suffered an embarrassing six-wicket defeat to India on Sunday.

Pakistan's bowling, which was hammered to all parts of the park by Indian openers Abhishek Sharma, recovered from that onslaught and strangled the Sri Lankan batters on Tuesday.

The effort by their bowling unit, spearheaded by pacer Shaheen Shah Afridi (3-28), helped Pakistan restrict Sri Lanka to 133/8 in 20 overs at the Zayed Cricket Stadium.

On a wicket that looked good for batting, Shaheen Afridi struck off the second ball of the first over, and then, in the third over, as with Haris Rauf and Talat contributing superbly, Pakistan had Sri Lanka struggling at 58/5. Spinner Abrar Ahmed bowled a superbly restrictive line for 1-8 in four overs as Pakistan dominated the middle overs.

Pakistan's players celebrates the dismissal of Kusal Perera during the Asia Cup Cricket match at Zayed Cricket Stadium in Abu Dhabi on Tuesday. AP

Kamindu Mendis struck a fighting half-century (50 off 44, 3x4, 2x6), which propelled Sri Lanka to a modest total of 133/8, which eventually did not prove enough despite a lion-hearted effort by their bowlers, especially Hasaranga.

Pakistan's chase was rocked by some spirited bowling by the Sri Lankans, with Dushmantha Chameera hitting Fakhar Zaman flush on the helmet with a short ball that climbed sharply, leaving the batter not enough time to execute his pull shot.

Fakar continued to play despite the concussion but did not look his usual self and pottered around, surviving a chance and eventually sent back by Wanindu Hasaranga with a brilliant low catch off Maheesh Theekshana.

Fakhar scored 17 off 19 balls, and with Sahibzada Farhan (24 off 15), added 45 runs for the opening wicket before things started going haywire for Pakistan. Farhan offered a tame catch off Theekshana.

Hasaranga then claimed two wickets within a few deliveries, castling Saim Ayub (2) and trapping skipper Salman Agha (5) as Pakistan slumped to 80/5, slightly better than Sri Lanka, who lost five wickets for 58.

Hasaranga bowled brilliantly and, with Theekshana, kept Sri Lanka's hopes alive. However, the target of 134 was always too difficult to defend.

Hussain Talat (32 not out off 30, 4x4) and Mohammad Nawaz (38 not out off 24, 3x4, 3x6) shared an unbeaten 58-run partnership for the sixth wicket to secure victory for Pakistan, ending the match in a flurry of big hits, including three sixes in the 18th over. They struck three fours and three sixes, after initially putting their head down when they came into the middle with Pakistan five down.

Nawaz was very aggressive while Talat was cautious and solid as they steered Pakistan to a much-needed victory, which maintained their chances of reaching the final.

Earlier, Sri Lanka got off to an atrocious start as Shaheen Afridi struck on the second ball of his first over, striking a vital blow as the opener flicked a delivery that stopped a bit after pitching, off his pads straight to Hussain Talat at short mid-wicket.

Afridi was at it again in his second over, getting the dangerous Pathum Nissanka (8 off 7, 1x6) to offer an easy catch to Mohammad Haris in the third over as Sri Lanka slumped to 18/2. And when Haris Rauf got Kusal Perera to play uppishly to a seam-up delivery angling in full on middle, and Faheem Ashraf plucked a nice catch as the extra bounce did the batter, Sri Lanka were in real trouble..

Sri Lanka reached 53/3 at the end of the Power-play with Charith (20 off 19, -- 2x4,1x6) slamming a four and a six off Rauf. But things went from bad to worse for them as Hussain Talat bagged two wickets off successive balls in the eighth over, getting the Sri Lanka skipper and the dangerman Dasun Shanaka, who hammered a fifty in their first match of Super 4s against Bangladesh. Sri Lanka slumped to a precarious 58/5 and looked in danger of failing to reach 100.

The pitch was good for batting, but it was a combination of some good seam bowling and poor application with the bat by the Sri Lankan batters that pushed them into further trouble.

Wanindu Hasaranga survived the hat-trick ball and struck a four off the sixth ball of the over to avoid a double-wicket maiden. He and Kamindu Mendis attempted to repair the innings, but it did not. It became 80/6 soon as Hasaranga (15 off 13) tried to slog a pitched-up wrong 'un by Abrar Ahmed, which spun unexpectedly and crashed into the stumps.

Kamindu Mendis waged a lone battle, stroking to a half-century and sharing a 43-run partnership with Chamika Karunaratne for the seventh wicket. He struck a couple of big ones in the death as he helped them cross the 100-run mark. But Afridi got him as his third victim in the 19th over, trapping him with a toe-crusher on the middle and leg. The on-field umpire negated the hug appeal, but DRS ruled otherwise.

Sri Lanka eventually managed to reach a modest 133/8, leaving themselves a huge mountain to climb.

Indo-Asian News Service

Brief scores:

Sri Lanka 133/8 in 20 overs (Kamindu Mendis 50, Charith Asalanka 20; Shaheen Shah Afridi 3-28, Hussain Talat 2-18, Haris Rauf 2-37) lost to Pakistan 138/5 in 18 overs (Mohammad Nawaz 38 not out, Hussain Talat 32 not out; Maheesh Theekshana 2-24, Wanindu Hasaranga 2-27) by five wickets