DUBAI: After suffering a five-wicket defeat against Sri Lanka, Pakistan Head coach Saqlain Mushtaq said the team is confident that it will do well against the same rival in the final of the Asia Cup 2022 on Sunday.
Pathum Nissanka's brilliant unbeaten 55-run knock guided Sri Lanka to an easy five-wicket victory over Pakistan in their Super Four clash at Asia Cup 2022 at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium on Friday.
The two teams will play the final match of the tournament on Sunday, September 11.
For Sri Lanka, Nissanka smashed an unbeaten 55 while Bhanuka Rajapaksa played a 24-run knock. For Pakistan, Mohammad Hasnain and Haris Rauf bagged two wickets each.
"Our batting has done well against India and Afghanistan when we chased. You might think that it was a small total and Naseem Shah won it for us but all eleven players batted. We are confident of doing well in the final," said Saqlain Mushtaq at the post-match press conference.
"Shocks do happen in cricket when wickets fall. Sri Lanka played better cricket and won. As a team, one should not be thinking about the outcome of the toss," he added.
Talking about Babar Azam who smashed 30 runs in 29 balls, Mushtaq said that the Pakistan skipper is in good form but it is his "luck" which is not in his favour.
"Babar is in good form. It is just that his luck is not going his way. The kind of boundaries he has hit against India. A batter with deeper eyes will say that his form is fine. It is his luck which is not going your way," said Mushtaq.
Talking about their clash against Sri Lanka in the final, the Pakistan head coach said, "Defeat hurts but it happens and we would like to learn from our mistakes. Sri Lanka will take confidence from this match to the final and we will take learning and passion going into the final."
Earlier, Pakistan's Mohammad Rizwan overtook his opening partner and captain Babar Azam to seize the top position among batters in the ICC Men's T20I Player Rankings after the weekly update. In the match against Sri Lanka, Pakistan's star batter Rizwan was only able to score 14 runs in 14 deliveries.
"Rizwan is superhuman and he is very spiritual the energy he brings to the team is amazing," said Mushtaq.
Chasing 122 runs, Sri Lanka got off to the worst start as they lost their star opener Kusal Mendis in the second over of the match. Sri Lanka dealt with another blow as Danushka Gunathilaka went back to the pavilion without scoring a run.
At that point, Sri Lanka were at 2/2. Dhananjaya de Silva then tried to play some big shot but fell prey to Haris Rauf, scoring 9 runs in 12 balls.
Pathum Nissanka and Bhanuka Rajapaksa then tried to anchor Sri Lanka's innings as they smashed big shots while taking singles. While playing the much-needed innings Nissanka brought up his half-century in 41 deliveries.
After the 14th over of the match, Sri Lanka needed 30 runs in 36 balls. The duo of Nissanka and Shanaka joined hands and helped their team cross the 100-run mark. However, Shanaka was sent packing by Mohammad Hasnain after scoring 21 runs in 16 balls.
Wanindu Hasaranga then came to the crease and smashed two fours in the over of Mohammad Hasnain. In the 17th over, Hasnain conceded 17 runs. Hasaranga smashed a big four on the last delivery of the 17th over to take his team home against Pakistan and clinched the match by five wickets.
Earlier, Wanindu Hasaranga dramatically turned the tide in Sri Lanka's favour by taking two consecutive wickets and dismissing Iftikhar Ahmed and Asif Ali.
As Pakistan struggles to score, Dhananjaya de Silva took Khushdil Shah's wicket. Wanindu Hasaranga bowled out Babar Azam after he failed to provide a great performance.
Chamika Karunaratne grabbed Fakhar Zaman's wicket after Wanindu Hasaranga took a spectacular catch on the boundary line. Pakistan got back on track after the removal of Mohammad Rizwan, with Babar Azam and Fakhar Zaman hitting some nice strokes.