Pathum Nissanka: “I wanted to stay there till the match was over. Although they had extra pace, I backed my skills and I knew what to do. That helped me in the middle. Certainly, this game will help us gain momentum entering the final.”
Babar Azam: “(Concerned with scores around 120?) Our batting wasn’t up to the mark after the powerplay. We couldn’t build from there. (Happy about bowling?) Definitely. We have always produced them. Our squad of fast bowlers is great. Hasan’s comeback and the others were good too. (Lessons in loss) We have made mistakes and have a discussion before the final.”
Birthday boy Dasun Shanaka: ” Bowling combination, starting with left-arm fast bowler, the offspinner, the legspinner, variation from the spinners, any kind of batting line up will be challenged. (Areas before final a concern?) Extras. Lines of fast bowlers in the early stages of the game. If we can get a couple of wickets early in the final it will be good for us.”
The Player of the Match is Wanindu Hasaranga: 3 wickets, 2 catches, 1 run out, and then the winning hits. He says: ” (Happy space?) That’s how I try to play when I enter the match. (Three wickets – Babar, Iftikhar, Asif) I am really happy because last few games I went for some runs. Have come back strong with some good quality wickets, so happy. I tried bowling dot balls in the first few overs, that’s why the three wickets came.”
Pakistan vs Sri Lanka T20I Highlights today, Friday 9-9-2022. Super 4 (N), Asia Cup 2022 from Dubai International Cricket Stadium.
Pakistan will bat first after losing the toss.
Dasun Shanaka refuses to take the adventurous route. Instead, he is finetuning the chasing part of their game. Two changes for Sri Lanka: Dhananjaya de Silva comes in for Charith Asalanka, and Pramod Madhusan in for Asitha Fernando.
Even Pakistan would have taken the conservative route of bowling first. Two changes for them too: Shadab Khan and Naseem Shah sit out, and Usman Qadir and Hasan Ali play. Babar Azam is confident Shadab will be fit for the final, and Naseem is just being rested.
Pakistan team: Rizwan (wk), Babar (capt), Fakhar, Iftikhar, Khushdil, Asif, Nawaz, Usman, Hasan, Haris, Hasnain.
Sri Lanka team: Pathum, Kusal †, Danushka, Bhanuka, Dasun (c), Dhananjaya, Hasaranga, Chamika, Maheesh, Dilshan, Pramod.
Form guide
(last five completed T20Is, most recent first)
Pakistan WWWLL
Sri Lanka WWWLW
Head to Head In T20I’s: 21
Pakistan Won: 13
Sri Lanka Won: 8
Match Timings: 14:00 GMT | 18:00 Local
Umpires – Ahmed Shah Pakteen, Anil Chaudhary
TV Umpires – Masudur Rahman
Match Referee – Andy Pycroft
Reserve Umpire – Bismillah Jan Shinwari
Match number – T20I no. 1762 – Asia Cup 2022 Super 4
