Live Score

SL-A won by 7 wickets

5:46 pm IST, 4:16 pm Local Time: Sri Lanka A finish the chase at 137/3 and win by 7 wickets. They beat Pakistan A to reach the final of the ACC Emerging T20 Asia Cup. In the first innings, Pakistan A got off to a slow start, losing three wickets in the powerplay. Ehsan Malinga took two wickets and gave his team the early edge. Despite losing wickets at the other end, Omair Yousuf stood firm and played a sublime innings of 68(46). He was easily the best batsman for Pakistan A in their innings. However, he didn't receive enough support from the other batsmen. Dushan Hemantha broke the backbone of the Pakistan A batting line-up and was the stand out bowler with figures of 4 wickets for 21 runs in his 4 overs. Pakistan A kept losing wickets at regular intervals and eventually managed to put up a below par total of 135/9 in their 20 overs. Sri Lanka A were full of intent right from the start during the chase. Lanka and Udara were all guns blazing before a freak dismissal saw Yashodha Lanka being ruled out for obstructing the field. But there was no stopping Lahiru Udara, who played a brilliant innings of 43(20) and laid a great foundation for his team's middle order. Pakistan A bowlers looked clueless as Ahan Wickramasinghe came in and played a steady innings without taking any risks. Ahan's solid innings of 52(46)* meant Sri Lanka A went past the winning line without any hiccups. No Pakistani bowler stood out in what was a very lacklustre bowling performance. This ordinary performance from both their batters and bowlers meant Pakistan A are knocked out of the tournament.

Time for the post-match presentations.

Mohammad Haris (Pakistan A Captain): "I think the game awareness. We did not capitalize on the partnerships and gave away wickets. The wicket was spinning but they did not bowl well at all. The spinners bowled faster and quicker balls. I think the game awareness was lacking. We need to understand that and come back stronger in the upcoming tournaments and play under pressure well. That is what we have to do. Thank You."

Nuwanidu Fernando(Sri Lanka A Captain): "In the powerplay we tried to get around 50 but Udara and Ahan did really well to post 67. Yes Dushan Hemantha has been brilliant. He has done pretty well. He didn't try to do something much. Just sticked to the plans and it has worked."

Dushan Hemantha (Player of the Match): "I'm enjoying bowling on this pitch. I'm trying to do my basics correct and that's working. The pitch was gripping a bit and helping the spinners, so I stuck to my plans. I just tried to spin the ball and not bowl straight. We're in good mindset and looking forward to the final."

That ends our coverage for today. For now, it is me, Sarbik Dutta, signing off on behalf of my co-commentators Ayan Chatterjee, Saptak Sanyal and scorer/analyst Vishnu Verma. Cheers!!