SL beat Pakistan in a thriller to qualify for Asia Cup final

|| CF DESK ||

Sri Lanka defeated Pakistan by one run in a last-ball thriller in the second semi-final of the ACC Women's Asia Cup at the Sylhet International Cricket Stadium (SICS). On Saturday, India will face Sri Lanka in the final.

Nida Dar was run-out while attempting to take a double, with nine runs required of the final over and three runs required to win off the final ball, as Pakistan managed to score 121 for six in their 20 overs.

The opening combination of Muneeba Ali and Sidra Amin delivered a solid 31-run start to the innings as they chased 123 runs to win. Muneeba, who bats left-handed, scored 18 off 10 balls, hitting three fours, before being run-out on the first ball of the fourth over.

Following Muneeba's departure, skipper Bismah Maroof joined Sidra, and the two added a 16-run partnership for the second wicket.

Sidra (nine off 20, 1x4) got back to the hut while playing a reverse flick off Inoka Ranaweera on the last ball of the seventh over with 47 runs on the board. In the batting powerplay, Pakistan scored 46 for one, and struck six fours.

Pakistan were in a spot of bother when they lost Omaima Sohail (10, 14b) in the 11th over and scoreboard reading Pakistan 65 for three.

At the crucial juncture of the match, Bismah and Nida got together and the most experienced pair took Pakistan to 107, with Bismah getting dismissed for 42 off 41, studded with four fours. The pair stitched 42 runs for the fourth wicket.

The dismissal of Bismah gave a ray of hope to Sri Lanka and they fully capitalised on the chance and restricted Pakistan to 121.  Nida scored run-a-ball 26, and struck one four. For Sri Lanka, Inoka Ranweera bagged two wickets for 17 runs.

Earlier, after opting to bat first, Sri Lanka managed to score 122 for six in their 20 overs, on the back of 50-run partnership between Harshitha Samarawickrama (35, 41b, 1x4) and Nilakshi de Silva (14, 27b) for the third wicket.

Opening batter Anushka Sanjeewani was other notable run getter with 26 off 21 balls, which included one four and one six.

Nashra Sandhu was the most successful bowler for the winning team with match figures of 4-0-17-3. Spinners Sadia Iqbal and Nida and right-arm fast Aiman Anwer scooped one wicket each.