Twitter Reactions Asia Cup 2023

'Jaldi jaldi airport pahuncho tum log' - Fans react as Sri Lanka beat Pakistan in last-ball thriller to qualify for Asia Cup 2023 final against India

Here's how fans reacted after Sri Lanka qualified for the Asia Cup 2023 final with a thrilling 2-wicket victory against Pakistan.

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Rohit Kumar
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Pakistan vs Sri Lanka (Source - Twitter)

Pakistan vs Sri Lanka (Source - Twitter)

Pakistan are knocked out of the Aisa Cup 2023 after Sri Lanka defeated them in a thrilling contest by 2 wickets. The contest was played at the R Premadasa Stadium in Colombo on Thursday, September 14. With this win, Sri Lanka have now qualified for the final where they will face India on September 17.

Talking about the match, Pakistan skipper Babar Azam won the toss and elected to bat first. Opener Abdullah Shafique was a bit nervy, to begin with, but survived a few close LBW shouts and then scored an eye-catching fifty. However, Fakhar Zaman continued his horrible form and departed on just 4 runs.

Babar at the other end was looking good as well but got a beauty from Wellalage who is making it a habit to dismiss world-class batters. Pakistan were in a spot of bother at 130/5 after 27.4 overs, but then the rains arrived to pretty much turn their fortunes. 

The ball started spinning less and got a bit damp, as Ifthikhar and Rizwan took full advantage of better batting conditions. Rizwan knocked it around and took a very calculated risk to end as the top scorer with 86 runs, while Iftikhar showed some big-boy power to score a handy 47. Both helped the team to achieve a fighting total of 252 runs.

A nail-biting contest between Sri Lanka and Pakistan

Chasing the target, Sri Lanka started brilliantly in the powerplay but were unfortunate to lose Kusal Perera in the 4th over, thanks to Shadab Khan’s brilliant fielding effort who sent back Perera back to the pavilion with a brilliant throw. However, Sri Lankan batters continued to dominate the Pakistani batters and kept scoring runs at a good pace.

Kusal Mendis played a brilliant knock of 91 runs off 87 balls which included 8 fours and 1 six and stitched a 100-run stand with Sadeera Samarawickrama for the 3rd wicket. However, Iftikhar sent back both the batters back to the pavilion. Pakistan tried hard to make a comeback in the match but it was too late for them to make any move.

However, Sri Lanka started losing wickets at a regular interval of time in the end, setting the equation in which they required 8 runs in the final over. Debutant Zaman Khan was given the responsibility to defend it and he bowled pretty well but Charith Assalanka kept his calm and hit the winning runs for the team.

Here's how fans reacted: 

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