Pakistan faced a batting-order collapse during their Super 4 clash against Sri Lanka before Mohammad Rizwan and Iftikhar Ahmed bailed the side out of trouble in Colombo. In a rain-hit game, Pakistan were left reeling at 130/5 in 27.2 overs before rain interrupted proceedings at the R Premadasa Stadium; Fakhar Zaman (4) failed again with the bat after Pakistan were forced to bring him back following Imam ul Haq’s injury; Fakhar was dropped for the game in the playing XI announced on Wednesday. Abdullah Shafique did score 52 but Babar Azam (29), Mohammad Haris (3), and Mohammad Nawaz (12) failed to make a mark as Pakistan found themselves in a spot of bother at the rain-break.
Rizwan, then, forged an important 108-stand with Iftikhar Ahmed (47) as the match – that was already curtailed to 45 overs before toss – was further reduced to 42. Former Pakistan captain Shahid Afridi, however, wasn’t too pleased with the side’s batting effort regardless, as he stated that it wasn’t the best choice of players.
“Did Pakistan miss the trick? We could have made better choices in the batting order. What do you guys think? In my opinion this was not the best batting order according to the situation. @Asiacup2023,” wrote Afridi.
It is worth noting that Pakistan are without some of their first-choice batters in Imam ul Haq (injury) and Saud Shakeel (fever). Furthermore, the side also misses Haris Rauf and Naseem Shah, both of whom are currently injured. Naseem is ruled out of the remainder of the Asia Cup after the injury he sustained during the Super 4 game against India earlier this week.
The 108-run partnership between Iftikhar and Rizwan for the sixth wicket is now the highest stand for the wicket for Pakistan in Asia Cup history. The duo went past Fawad Alam and Sohail Tanvir, who had forged a 100-run partnership against Hong Kong in 2008.
Winner faces India
The winner of the match between Sri Lanka and Pakistan faces India in the Asia Cup final on September 17. India qualified for the title clash after victories against both sides, and face Bangladesh in their final Super 4 clash on Friday.
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