Madushanka five-fer sends Sri Lanka to tri-series final
The result knocks England out of contention as Pakistan and Sri Lanka will clash again in the final
Dilshan Madushanka's career-best figures of 5/34 wrecked Pakistan in Lahore as Sri Lanka reached the tri-series final with ease. Madushanka and the rest of the Sri Lankan attack put Pakistan under pressure right from the outset as the hosts crashed inside 26 overs for just 110. In reply, Sri Lanka rode on a brisk half-century from Kamindu Mendis to breeze past the target in just 18.1 overs. The result has eliminated England from the tournament, with Pakistan and Sri Lanka set to clash again in the final.
An unchanged Sri Lankan outfit had no hesitation in bowling first after winning the toss. Pakistan, however, were forced to make a change up top, after releasing Saim Ayub from the squad. He was replaced by Maaz Sadaqat and Naseem Shah returned to the XI as well in place of Razaullah. Both Fakhar Zaman and Sadaqat began with a boundary each but Sri Lanka struck very early in the contest as Madushanka got rid of the former with a short ball. Babar Azam showed early promise but at the other end, Asitha Fernando trapped Sadaqat leg-before-wicket to further dent Pakistan.
Babar continued to bat in positive fashion though as the boundaries kept flying off his bat. However, Madushanka finished his first spell with another wicket to keep up the pressure on the home side. Any hopes of a comeback were up in smoke real quick when Pakistan lost Salman Agha and Babar off successive deliveries spread across two overs. Reduced to 61/5 inside just 14 overs, the hosts needed another rescue act from their lower order to put up a fighting total on the board. However, Sri Lanka didn't allow Pakistan to recover like England did a couple of nights ago.
Shadab Khan, the man of the moment, attempted a sweep off Sahan Arachchige but could only manage a top edge to depart for 2. Madushanka then returned for his second spell to cause more damage. Another short ball sent Arafat Minhas packing and Hasan Nawaz threw his wicket away in the very next over by mistiming one to get caught near long off. Haris Rauf and Shaheen Afridi became Madushanka's fourth and fifth victims respectively as Pakistan folded with almost half the overs left in their innings.
Kamindu, who received a reprieve in the very first over, got going with a boundary in the following over. Avishka Fernando fetched a couple of boundaries off Shaheen but it was Kamindu who did the bulk of the damage in a bid to get things done quickly. Kamindu also welcomed Haris Rauf to the attack by smashing him for a hattrick of boundaries in his first over as Sri Lanka raced to 50 in just 6.1 overs.
Pakistan did strike twice in quick succession to get rid of Avishka and Kusal Mendis but by then, Sri Lanka needed less than 50 to clinch the game. Kamindu had another stroke of luck when he hit one straight to the fielder at deep backward square leg, but he stepped on the rope to concede six runs that also brought up the batter's half-century. From thereon, it was just a matter of time for Sri Lanka as they eventually got past the finish line after the drinks break. In total, the entire contest lasted less than 44 overs.
Brief scores: Pakistan 110 in 25.3 overs (Babar Azam 29; Dilshan Madushanka 5-34, Sahan Arachchige 2-24) lost to Sri Lanka 114/2 in 18.1 overs (Kamindu Mendis 62*, Pavan Rathnayake 23*; Arafat Minhas 1-23) by 8 wickets.
