Sri Lanka had been in a spot of hassle after they misplaced their eighth wicket within the last over as they nonetheless wanted six off the final two balls. Asalanka then hit a 4 and ran a two off debutant pacer Zaman Khan to register an exciting two-wicket win as Sri Lanka chased down a DLS goal of 252 within the final supply.
“I just thought how can I get two to hit a gap and run hard because it is a big field and just told Pathirana to run hard,” Asalanka mentioned after the match.The 26-year-old Asalanka described his sensational 47-ball 49 not out because the second greatest knock of his profession.
“I thought either he will bowl a bouncer or a yorker and then he bowled a slower ball, so it was on my side. I am very excited. Mendis and Sadeera batted really well. I wanted to finish. That is my role. I can rank this innings second place in my book,” Asalanka added.
Kusal Mendis slammed an 87-ball 91 to arrange the chase for Sri Lanka. He added a priceless 100 off 98 balls with Sadeera Samarawickrama (48).
“Happy with my performance, happy to get to the final,” mentioned Mendis, who was adjudged the Player of the Match.
“Those two wickets fell down and we were nervous, but with Charith in the middle we had hope. He’s done this in one game against Afghanistan. I think we also bowled really well, so happy to be in the final. Wanindu, Kumara and Dusmantha are main bowlers, but we have these bowlers who are bowling well. This is a young unit,” Mendis said.
Winning captain Dasun Shanaka praised his crew for reaching back-to-back finals.
“We had the sport below management, however the shedding of wickets took it until the final over. We gave them an opportunity to return again within the sport, however we knew Charith may get us residence,” he said.
“We had a dialogue earlier than batting and we mentioned the errors we made within the India sport. We gave away wickets within the first 10 overs, and Kusal and Sadeera performed good knocks. I believe they’re one of the best gamers of spin within the Sri Lanka squad. And Charith, he confirmed nice character. Special feeling, again to again finals.”
(With inputs from PTI)
Source: timesofindia.indiatimes.com