Sri Lanka beat Pakistan by three wickets in a thrilling semi-final on Friday and made their way through to the final of the Women’s Asia Cup. Yet another time, it was Chamari Athapaththu, who played a crucial role in their victory. She led from the front and scored 63 runs off 48 balls with the help of nine fours and a six. Chasing 142, the skipper batted until the 17th over and got out with Sri Lanka needing 21 runs off 20 balls.
After she got out, the hosts struggled as they needed 16 runs off the last two overs. But then, Sugandika Kumari hit two fours in the penultimate over, bringing the target down to three off the last over. Nida Dar brought Pakistan back into the game with three dot balls, one of which fetched Kumari’s wicket.
But then, Anushka Sanjeewani held her nerves to take the hosts home with a ball to spare. She stayed unbeaten on 24 balls off 22 balls as Sri Lanka set up a final against India to be held on Sunday, July 28 in Dambulla.
Dilhari, Prabodhani restrict Pakistan
Earlier after being asked to bat first, Pakistan scored 140 for the loss of four wickets. Gul Feroza and Muneeba Ali put on 61 runs for the opening wicket off 9.1 overs. Feroza, who scored back-to-back fifties against Nepal and the UAE, scored 25 runs before Udeshika Prabodhani accounted for her wicket. Prabodhani was the pick of the Sri Lankan bowlers after she finished with figures of 4-0-23-2.
Kavisha Dilhari put the brakes in the middle order by getting the wickets of Sidra Amin and Nida Dar. Inoshi Priyadarshini and Kumari could not take a wicket, but had combined figures of 8-0-40-0.
Fatima Sana was promoted up the order and she injected momentum into the Pakistan innings with an unbeaten knock of 23 off 17 balls, but her knock went in vain. Having finished as the runners-up five times after losing to India, Sri Lanka would be looking for their maiden title.