PAK vs SL | Chameera and Mishara help Sri Lanka edge past Pakistan to enter final of Tri Series

‌Sri Lanka raised their game in a do-or-die contest to edge past Pakistan by six wickets in the final group game of the T20I Tri Series in Rawalpindi on Thursday. Kamil Mishara and Dushmantha Chameera were the architects for the visitors’ thrilling win, which helped them finish above Zimbabwe in the points table and qualify for the summit clash. The opener top-scored in the game with a 48-ball 76, which included six fours and three sixes, while Chameera broke the back of the Pakistan top order to return figures of 4/20 in four overs.

After being put in at the Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium, Sri Lanka lost their in-form opener Pathum Nissanka cheaply in the third over, with the score reading just 16. However, new batter Kusal Mendis started with a bang as he welcomed Faheem Ashraf into the attack with three boundaries. An over later, the wicketkeeper-batter smashed a six and four off Mohammad Wasim as the visitors ended the powerplay strongly at 58/1. With captain Salman Agha introducing spin immediately after the six-over mark, opener Kamil Mishara stepped up his game with boundaries off Abrar Ahmed and Mohammad Nawaz in consecutive overs. However, Abrar provided the crucial breakthrough in his second over, trapping Mendis right in front of the wicket. The batter, who was involved in a 36-ball 66-run stand with Mishara, left after hitting six fours and a six during a counterattacking knock of 40 off 23 balls. Though Kusal Perera also followed cheaply, Mishara stood firm from the other end, bringing up his half-century with a six off Saim Ayub in the 13th over. However, the southpaw fell to Abrar, four overs later, in a bid to accelerate proceedings. The visitors managed to score 31 runs in the last three overs, courtesy of some lusty blows from captain Dasun Shanaka, to end at 184/5. Meanwhile, Abrar was the pick among the home side’s bowlers with figures of 2/28 in four overs, with Saim Ayub picking up a solitary scalp.

In return, the Men in Green started promisingly with Sahibzada Farhan hitting consecutive boundaries of Dasun Shanak in the second over. Fellow opener Ayub went one better with three back-to-back hits to the fence of Maheesh Theekshana in the next over as the score read 28 after the first three overs. But the introduction of Chameera into the mix spelt doom for the hosts, as he picked up two wickets in the last three balls of his first over to put the batting side on the back foot. Two more wickets in the next two overs from Eshan Malinga and Chameera meant the home side ended the powerplay at a bothering 45/4. Salman and Usman Khan tried to revive the innings with a 56-run stand for the fifth wicket in seven overs. Usman was the aggressor during the stand with two fours and two sixes in his 23-ball 33, while skipper Salman shifted gears post the wicketkeeper-batter’s dismissal. He hit two fours of Theekshana in the 15th over before completing his fifty, in 35 balls, with a six off Malinga in the next. Meanwhile, Nawaz (27 off 16) also stepped in with a six and four of Chameera before going big against Malinga in the next over. However, the Sri Lankan pacer had the last laugh as he packed off the all-rounder in the very next ball, breaking the dangerous-looking partnership of 70 off only 36 balls. With 10 needed off the last six balls, Chameera held his nerve to concede just three runs in the first four balls before dismissing Faheem. Though Salman remained unbeaten on 63 off 44 balls with four fours and three sixes, he could not take Pakistan over the line as their innings ended at 178/7. For the Lankans, apart from Chameera, Malinga chipped in with two wickets, though he was costly, conceding 54 runs in his four-over spell.