We have seen that Hasaranga & Nissanka help Sri Lanka win before final. So, they will be a dependable player in the squad. Three early wickets fell to Hasnain and Rauf, but the total was too low to win. Indeed, another chasing team prevailed in Dubai, making it 17 chasing side triumphs in the previous 20 T20Is played there.
This time, though, Sri Lanka’s bowlers may have already done the heavy lifting for a win before the second innings even began. Pakistan’s batting never got going, and as the middle overs rolled around, Wanindu Hasaranga had his first major outing of the tournament, taking 3 for 21.
Nissanka Help Sri Lanka Win Before Final
Despite Mohammad Nawaz’s best efforts with the bat, Pakistan’s prospects shrank significantly after his strikes, as he only managed 26 runs off of 18 balls before being run out. Over time, 121 was able to defeat Pakistan.
Sri Lanka’s powerplay was rocked by Pakistan’s fast bowling, as they fell to 29 for 3 at one point. However, since their goal was so lowkey, they could afford to go slowly.
The chase was carried by Pathum Nissanka, who was not out at 55 off 48 balls. Sri Lanka cruised to victory with 18 balls and five wickets to spare on the strength of less significant but more aggressive efforts from Bhanuka Rajapaksa and Dasun Shanaka.
Hasaranga’s Googly Rules Overs
It’s possible that Pakistan’s seeming inability to deal with Hasaranga’s main weapon, the ball that twists into the right-hander, was due to the fact that they hadn’t faced him since 2019 (when he was a far less effective bowler).
In his first two overs, he only allowed six runs. Babar Azam, who had reached 30 off of 28 deliveries, came down the track and took a chance, but he was well defeated by Hasaranga, who slipped a straighter one under his bat and onto the wickets.
Even though Iftikhar Ahmed smashed a six off the fourth delivery of Hasaranga’s last over, the bowler came storming back.
He bowled Iftikhar with a googly and bowled Asif Ali’s first ball with a googly that clipped off stump, despite the fact that Ali was merely trying to defend himself. Pakistan’s score was 91 for 6.
In The Early Overs, Sri Lanka Had The Upper Hand
Sri Lanka bowled quite tightly throughout the powerplay, setting the stage for that period. With seamers, Pramod Madushan (making his debut) and Dilshan Madushanka mostly keeping things tight.
Finger spinners Maheesh Theekshana and Dhananjaya de Silva also contributed solid overs, Sri Lanka allowed just one boundary off the bat in the opening five overs. There were 12 runs scored in the sixth over, but Sri Lanka was able to keep the score low in large part because of Hasaranga.
It should be noted that Pakistan did not score a run from the batting crease between balls 5.5 and 14.3 (a span of 53 deliveries), with just five wides being the only times the ball went beyond the boundary.
As a result, the second part of the inning became very tense, and many hitters were put out attempting to make big hits. The last nine Pakistani batsmen were dismissed for a total of 58 runs.
The Third, Second, And First Wickets Are All Taken By Hasnain and Rauf
Mohammad Hasnain and Haris Rauf gave Pakistan’s bowlers an early boost by taking three early wickets and giving them optimism of a stronger powerplay than Sri Lanka’s.
When Kusal Mendis came to bat, Hasnain got a bouncer off the bat, and the batsman edged it to slip. Rauf took Danushka Gunathilaka’s outside edge in the following over thanks to the added bounce, and Mohammad Rizwan scored on a spectacular diving catch to his right.
Hasnain had a challenging return opportunity to get Dhananjaya in his next over, but Rauf got him soon after by outpacing him with delivery on the stumps, which de Silva mis-hit to mid-off.
Conflicts Are Resolved Thanks To Nissanka And Company
But that was as satisfactory as it could be for Pakistan. Early throughout the middle overs, Rajapaksa put Sri Lanka ahead of the needed pace by hitting two sixes off Usman Qadir. At the far end, Nissanka amassed without incident. They managed to sneak in with 51 balls remaining after Rajapaksa was run out for 42.
Nissanka scored his eighth T20I fifty and assisted in easing the chase to a successful conclusion, with Hasaranga ultimately scoring the winning runs.
