Pakistan completed a famous three-wicket victory over Sri Lanka at Cardiff and became the final team to enter the semis of the ICC Champions Trophy 2017. Sarfraz Ahmed undoubtedly played the innings of his life as, despite a middle-order collapse, he guided Pakistan home with an unbeaten 61.
Sri Lanka batted first and were bundled out for 236 as Niroshan Dickwella was the highest scorer for them with 73. But some poor shots coupled with some brilliant bowling meant Sri Lanka lost their way in the middle.
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So, without further ado, let's take a look at the five things that went wrong for Sri Lanka in their virtual quarterfinal against Pakistan:
#5 Middle order collapse
Against India, it was Sri Lanka's brilliance with the bat which saw them through. Tonight, more of the same was required and at one stage Angelo Mathews and Niroshan Dickwella looked like they would bat Pakistan out of the match. At that point, the Lankans looked set to cross 300 in 50 overs but, in the end, they managed just 236 as the middle order crumbled.
It all started with Mathews' dismissal as Amir provided Pakistan with the much-needed break through. Dhananjaya de Silva followed suit off the bowling of Junaid Khan. Dickwella and Thisara Perera then lost their way as Sri Lanka were reduced to 167/7 from 161/3 at one stage. It was this collapse, albeit against a brilliant spell of bowling from Amir and Junaid, which led to the downfall of Sri Lanka.
#4 Bad shot selection from Dickwella and Perera
Sri Lanka's opener, Niroshan Dickwella had provided them with a brilliant start by playing sensibly. But when he lost his captain in the middle overs followed by Dhananjaya de Silva, the onus was on Dickwella to provide solidity to the Lankan batting lineup in times of difficulty. But he failed to do that as he attempted a wild slog against Mohammad Amir which was edged and taken beautifully by Sarfraz Ahmed.
Similarly, Thisara Perera – the experienced Lankan all-rounder – needed to stay in the middle to ensure his side batted the entire 50 overs. But staying true to his playing style, he attempted an unnecessary slog against an in form Junaid Khan and was caught in the slip cordon by Babar Azam. These two could have taken Sri Lanka to a decent enough score but a rush of blood or just plain stupidity cost them their wickets.
#3 Dinesh Chandimal’s poor outing
The right-hander has been criticised lately for his form and the number of balls he eats up before getting into his groove. It was for this reason he was not sent in to bat against India as Asela Gunaratne was preferred by the Lankans. Chandimal had struggled against South Africa in the first game as well, holing out for just 12 in that game.
Today he arrived at the crease after Lanka had lost the important wicket of Kusal Mendis. But on the second delivery itself, he inside edged one off the bowling of debutant Fahim Ashraf. There was hardly any feet movement and he was in no position to play a shot so early in his innings.
#2 Flat start by the new bowlers
Whenever you are defending a low total, the first thing you need is a bright start from your pacers. But it wasn't to be for Sri Lanka as their opening pair of Suranga Lakmal and Lasith Malinga could not do much damage to the Pakistan openers. The men in green scored 50 by the ninth over of this innings in a dream start to the chase.
Malinga was a bit flat at the beginning and failed to mix it up much in his first spell. The wicket had a bit of a grass on it to help the pacers but both of them struggled with their line and length. Fakhar Zaman has to be given some credit as the youngster's onslaught disrupted Sri Lanka’s plans.
#1 Sloppy fielding
Sri Lanka are known to be a good fielding side but what they did today in the field will haunt them in the days to come. It all started in the first over itself as Danushka Gunathilaka dropped Azhar Ali. He then missed a simple run out chance and the opener received two lives before finally being dismissed.
Pakistan's match winner, Sarfraz Ahmed, was dropped twice during the business end of the innings and he was also saved from a run out by poor throws on three different occasions. Lanka also committed a number of fumbles and shockingly gave away close to 10 runs from overthrows. It is safe to say that it was their fielders that let them down more than their batsmen and cost them a place in the semis.
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