Pakistan survive Shanaka blitz but crash out of T20 World Cup; NZ qualify

It was a match that first had the makings of a one-sided canter. It then swayed into the balance, before pivoting in favor of Pakistan, even as it didn't seem to suffice from the standpoint of qualification. Sri Lanka, the second team in this contest, had nothing riding on it and endured a largely forgettable game that mirrored their run in the Super Eights. Yet, skipper Dasun Shanaka, blitzing an unbeaten 31-ball 76, nearly scripted a Houdini act with a breathtaking onslaught before Pakistan snuck through by five runs. It made little difference in the larger scheme of things, however, as they found themselves exiting the tournament with New Zealand marching to the semi-finals with a superior net run rate.

Having posted 212, Pakistan had to keep the Sri Lankans to 147 or lower to progress to the semi-finals. Sri Lanka's chase started poorly, with Pathum Nissanka backing away and completely misreading a back-of-the-hand slower delivery from Naseem Shah as he chipped the ball to extra cover. Kamil Mishara pierced the gaps off Shaheen Afridi and began positively, even as Naseem varied his pace to keep the batters guessing. Abrar Ahmed's early introduction paid off as he cleaned up Mishara off his first delivery. A missed run-out chance followed off the last ball of the fifth over, and with Asalanka ending the Powerplay with a six, things were interestingly poised even as Sri Lanka were well behind the eight-ball.

Unlike what has been the theme so far, Pakistan had no choice but to introduce Usman Tariq a lot earlier this time. Asalanka imposed himself on the spinner with a four and a six. Khawaja Nafay shelled a tough chance at cover to give Asalanka a lifeline, following which the latter hurt his hand as he put in a dive later in the over. He was castled by Abrar off the very next delivery, with the mystery spinner going on to bag a third wicket to keep Pakistan's hopes alive, even as Pavan Rathnayake unleashed an array of boundaries.

Rathnayake made Pakistan pay for the missed run-out chance, peppering the fence to eat away at the deficit that stood between Pakistan and elimination. While Janith Liyanage couldn't do much, Shanaka walked into the cauldron and consolidated the innings with Rathnayake, before the duo went on the attack. Rathnayake slammed two sixes off Shadab Khan to raise his half-century, shortly after which Sri Lanka got to that mark of 148 to seal Pakistan's fate.

The co-hosts still needed 62 runs off the last four overs and then 46 off the last two. While it seemed a stretch, Shanaka clearly had other ideas, clobbering Shadab for two big sixes. Yet, 28 runs were needed off the last over and all Afridi needed to bowl were two good deliveries. He dished out plenty in the slot, however, as Shanaka smashed a four and three consecutive sixes to send the Pallekele crowd into a frenzy. That's when Shanaka bizarrely attempted a reverse-ramp to no avail. The last ball flirted with the wide line and while Shanaka let it go, it was deemed a legal delivery on the field, leaving the Sri Lankan captain crestfallen as his team fell short.

Earlier, Sri Lanka opted to field first upon winning the toss. Desperate times forced Pakistan to ring in the changes as they dropped Saim Ayub and Babar Azam. Fakhar Zaman was asked to open the innings and the move worked like a charm as he began in a menacing mood. Sahibzada Farhan continued to make the most of his irrepressible form and the openers raced along to capitalise on some ordinary bowling by Sri Lanka, who just could not find their lengths early on. They got past 50 well inside the fifth over while Farhan re-wrote the record books with a hook to the fine leg fence as he surpassed Virat Kohli's tally for the most runs in a single edition of the Men's T20 World Cup. The carnage extended well beyond the Powerplay and Sri Lanka did not help themselves one bit on the field, with multiple dropped catches haunting them.

Both batters raced past fifty with Fakhar also outscoring Farhan at one point, even as he was dropped at long off. Farhan was caught shortly after, only for the fielder to step onto the ropes. The partnership soon reached 176 - a record for any wicket in a T20 World Cup match, before it was brought to an end with Fakhar dragging the ball onto his stumps. Khawaja Nafay and Shadab Khan were promoted up the order, but it did not pay off although Farhan notched up his second hundred of the tournament.

Pakistan lost their way in the slog-overs with five wickets falling across the last two overs. Dilshan Madushanka was the only bowler who covered himself in glory, finishing with a three-fer, while the pacers collectively aimed for the block hole. Sri Lanka's catching epidemic came to an end as they finally held onto their chances.

The bowlers did admirably well to concede just 35 runs off the last four overs. As it would turn out, this went a long way in limiting Pakistan's cushion of runs with the ball, sending them out of the tournament with New Zealand marching on to Kolkata.

Brief Scores: Pakistan 212/8 in 20 overs (Sahibzada Farhan 100, Fakhar Zaman 84, Dilshan Madushanka 3-33) beat Sri Lanka 207/6 in 20 overs (Dasun Shanaka 76*, Pavan Rathnayake 58, Abrar Ahmed 3-23) by 5 runs.