Pakistan, Sri Lanka square off for semis spot

Cardiff: Their campaigns back on track after upset wins, Pakistan and Sri Lanka face each other in their concluding Champions Trophy group match in a virtual ‘quarter-final’ here on Monday.

Both the teams lost their opening matches but bounced back into reckoning after producing two of the tournament’s biggest upsets so far.

Pakistan suffered a 124-run thrashing at the hands of arch-rivals and defending champions India but then notched up an upset win over world number one side South Africa to stay alive. Sri Lanka too suffered a heavy 96-run defeat at the hands of South Africa but came up with a stunning batting show to shock India by seven wickets to place themselves in contention for a semi-final berth.

Pakistan bowlers, except for Mohammad Amir, were hammered by the top-order Indian batsmen but they made amends against South Africa whose batting line-up has several match-winners like A B de Villiers and Hashim Amla. Left-arm spinner Imad Wasim (2/20) and paceman Hasan Ali (3/24) bowled beautifully to restrict the Proteas to a meagre 219/8.

Babar Azam (31 not out) and Shoaib Malik (16 not out) got Pakistan ahead of their required run-rate to secure a 19-run win under the Duckworth-Lewis method when rain stopped play with their side 119/3 off 27 overs.

Pakistan captain Sarfraz Ahmed had attributed the win against South Africa to good bowling against a strong side and he would look for another such display against the Lankans on Monday. The Pakistani side also had the luxury of playing in front of a partisan crowd in Birmingham. It is unlikely to have the same support in Cardiff tomorrow and it will have to be seen how much it impacts on the team performance. “The crowd was supporting us and that’s why the players were boosted,” captain Sarfraz Khan had said after the win against the Proteas.