Pakistan and Sri Lanka are set to lock horns in a virtual semifinal fixture of Asia Cup 2023 to join India in the final. After beating Pakistan by 228 runs and Sri Lanka by 41 runs, Rohit Sharma’s men became the first team to seal their place in the continental cup show-piece. Who joins them in Sunday’s final remains to be seen as Dasun Shanaka’s defending champions meet an injury-ravaged Pakistan.
India ended Sri Lanka’s 13-game winning streak on Tuesday, however, it was a valiant display from the second-most successful team in the history of the tournament. Dunith Wellalage picked up his maiden five-wicket haul in ODI cricket and smashed an unbeaten knock of 42 before falling short of batters at the other end.
Pakistan meanwhile were handed their first defeat in the tournament and Babar’s men have also lost key players to injury with Naseem Shah ruled out the remainder of the Asia Cup and Haris Rauf left out of the fixture against Sri Lanka as a precaution.
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PCB on Wednesday named the playing XI which will take to the field on Thursday, September 14 at the R. Premadasa Stadium and as many as five changes have been made to the side which lost to India.
Then, there’s the rain factor as the weather has hardly been ideal throughout the tournament, rain is likely to play spoilsport in the do-or-die fixture for Pakistan and Sri Lanka.
As per Accuweather, there are 65% chances of precipitation, meaning there could be some rain, however, it remains to be seen whether it will be enough to complete the game.
Pakistan vs Sri Lanka: Qualification scenarios
With one win each, Pakistan and Sri Lanka are currently level on two points from two games in the Asia Cup 2023 Super 4 points table. Their meeting on September 14 will decide which team joins India, as the Men in Blue are through to the final and Bangladesh have already been eliminated.
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Whichever team wins the match will meet India this Sunday, however, things could get tricky if rain ends up washing out the game. Remember, there is no reserve day in place, at least 20 overs per side need to be bowled to determine a result otherwise, both Sri Lanka and Pakistan will get a point each.
Both teams will remain level on 3 points, but then the equation will boil down to Net Run Rate (NRR). Sri Lanka currently hold the advantage having a superior NRR of -0.200, while Pakistan are much behind at -1.892.
Babar Azam’s men thus need to beat Sri Lanka to meet India in the Asia Cup 2023 final, but a washout will see the defending champions through to the summit clash.
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