Asia Cup T20: Pakistan v Sri Lanka – 5 Talking Points

Pakistan registered a consolation victory after they beat Sri Lanka in a dead rubber contest at the Sher e Bangla Stadium in Mirpur. After being put into bat, Sri Lanka put up a decent total of 150/4 on the scoreboard. They got off to a good start but could not capitalize on it. Batting in reply, Pakistan was in no hurry to complete the match and took their time to patiently knock off the target with 5 wickets to spare. Both the teams were already knocked out of the tournament and had one last chance to save their pride. But, eventually, it was the Pakistan team which found solace for their dismal performance in the tournament. Sri Lanka may have lost the game but had a couple of highly positive takeaways.

1. Sri Lanka starts with a bang:

Sri Lanka has an amazing start today. Dinesh Chandimal and Tillakaratne Dilshan opened the innings for the Lankan Lions and batted fluently to put up a massive 110 runs stand for the first wicket. The duo started off steadily with a cautious approach. But, Dilshan soon broke free and began to tonk the bowlers for boundaries. Chandimal also made sure that the run rate doesn’t fall down and hit the occasional fours. The 100 run stand was brought up with a six by Chandimal in the 13th over. The pair was separated in the following over by Wahab Riaz who dismissed Chandimal (58 from 49 balls). Dilshan, however, went on to bat till the end and remained unbeaten at 75 off just 56 balls.

2. Pakistan bowlers claw back:

The Lankan duo of Dinesh Chandimal and Tillakaratne Dilshan had laid a good platform for the rest of the batters to come in and take the team score to a commanding position. However, that could not possible for them as the Pakistan bowlers clawed their way back into the game to restrict the Lankans from reaching a formidable score. Shehan Jayasuriya was made to depart quickly by Shoaib Malik in the 15th over. The dismissal came in the over following Chandimal’s dismissal. Mohammad Amir also bowled tightly and did not give away easy runs. Mohammad Irfan then followed it with a twin blow to deny the Lankan any quick runs in the last stages of the innings. The Pakistanis gave away just 28 runs and took 4 wickets in the last five overs to restrict Sri Lanka for 150/4.

3. Pakistan opts for cautious approach:

Pakistan batting has been brittle in the tournament. Therefore, they did the right thing by choosing to take the conservative approach while chasing the target. Mohammad Hafeez was an early casualty. Later, after a brief stand of 34 runs, Sharjeel Khan also departed which stalled the smooth chase to some extent. Sarfraz Ahmed (38 from 27 balls) and Umar Akmal (48 from 37 balls) then played brilliantly and took their team to a stable position before Sarfraz was dismissed in the 13th over with the team score being 94. However, there were no further hiccups during the chase as Akmal and Malik forged a 53 runs stand and enable Pakistan to win the game by 5 wickets.

4. Sri Lanka use eight bowlers:

Dinesh Chandimal led the team in the absence of the stand-in skipper Angelo Matthew who pulled out due to a calf strain. Chandimal looked in an experimenting mood and used 8 bowlers today. However, except, Kulasekara (1/20) and Tillakaratne Dilshan (1/2 in one over) no bowler could be effective. All of them got hit easily for runs. Shehan Jayasuriya, Thisara Perera and Milinda Siriwardana were the worst affected ones. The trio collectively gave away 58 runs in 5.2 overs. Thisara Perera, to be particular, had a very bad day and returned with 0/25 in 2.2.

5. Positive take way for both teams ahead of the World T20:

The contest did not have any importance as both had been already knocked out of the tournament. However, a there were few positive things which the teams can feel happy about. For Pakistan, their bowlers did an impressive job. They may have failed to get the early wickets but at the same time did not allow the Lankans to run away with game completely. Late strikes towards the end of the innings is also commendable. Sarfraz Ahmed continued his good touch with the bat while Umar Akmal’s knock would give them some relief from the batting woes. For Sri Lanka, Dinesh Chandimal and Tillakaratne Dilshan getting back to the scoring ways is a good news ahead of the World T20. Bowling still seems to be a problem but that can be sorted out when Lasith Malinga and Angelo Matthew comeback.