Athapaththu, Sanjeewani star as SL edge out Pakistan in last over-thriller to make the final

Chamari Athapaththu's fighting 63 off 48 balls and Anushka Sanjeewani's nerveless 24 not out at No. 6 helped Sri Lanka beat Pakistan by three wickets in a last-over thriller in the second semi-final of the Women's Asia Cup 2024. The win saw them march into the final of the tournament for the second successive edition. Two years ago in Sylhet, Sri Lanka held their nerve with the ball to overcome Pakistan by one run in the semi-final and on Friday, they stayed calm with the bat to chase down 141.

Sri Lanka will now again meet defending champions India in the title clash in Dambulla on Sunday.

In a pulsating semi-final, the momentum swung between both teams in both innings. Whenever Sri Lanka made inroads, Pakistan fought back, and vice-versa right till the end.

After restricting Pakistan to 140 for 4, Sri Lanka had to dig deep in the chase. Sadia Iqbal spun a web with four wickets and pegged the hosts back at crucial times. After losing two early wickets, Athapaththu found able partners first in Kavisha Dilhari and then in the wicketkeeper-batter Sanjeewani. With her, Athapaththu shared a match-changing 42 runs off 29 for the fifth wicket. However, Iqbal dismissed Athapaththu in the 17th over to turn the tide Pakistan's way and bring the equation down to run-a-ball 21.

Sri Lanka lost two more wickets and with the equation down to three off three in the final over, Sanjeewani, bringing her years of international experience into play, stayed calm to take the team home with a ball to spare.

Muneeba Ali and Gull Feroza continued from where they left off against UAE. The Pakistan openers dominated the powerplay adding 45 runs and ended up sharing a partnership of 61 to set the tone early.

Feroza, coming off two consecutive fifties, was off to a flying start, punishing the right-arm seamer Achini Kulasuriya for three fours in the third over. After a quiet over from left-arm spinner Sugandika Kumari, Muneeba swept away two short deliveries off Athapaththu and then started Udeshika Prabodhani's second over with an elegant cover drive. The duo was smart with the batting and rotated the strike well to find quick runs.

Sri Lanka had a nervy start with the ball, playing in front of a loud Dambulla crowd. But they pulled things back in the middle overs, conceding only 56 runs between overs 7-16 and picking up four wickets.

Coming back for her third over, Prabodhani, in her 100th T20I, removed Feroza when the opener miscued one to deep midwicket. Four balls later, the seamer cleaned up Muneeba, when she shuffled across too much to sweep and exposed her stumps.

Nida Dar then slammed a six and four to break the shackles but Sidra Amin, who was struggling at the other end, holed out to short third when she mistimed a reverse sweep in Kavisha Dilhari's second over. Three balls later, Dilahri trapped Dar in front.

At 101 for 4 after 16 overs, Pakistan found quick runs from Fatima Sana. She smashed Dilhari for two fours in her final over and used her strong bottom hand to hit the ball cleanly over deep cover off Sugandika Kumari's penultimate. Sana's unbeaten 23 off 17 and her 41-run stand with Aliya Riaz for the fifth wicket lifted Pakistan.

Sri Lanka's fielding was disappointing as they dropped catches, missed run-out chances and had several misfields.

Sri Lanka lost Vishmi Gunaratne and Harshitha Samarawickrama early and ended their powerplay on 35 for 2. But with Dilhari, the Sri Lanka captain was able to steady the innings and the duo shared a 59-run stand for the third wicket. Athapaththu, after a sedate start, picked up the pace finding the boundaries at a steady rate.

With 63 needed from 52 balls, Pakistan stormed back into the game, thanks to Iqbal's double-wicket over that left Sri Lanka at 78 for 4.

But Sanjeewani and Athapaththu blunted Pakistan with a flurry of boundaries in the next three overs. En route, Athapaththu also notched up her 11th T20I half-century. That Pakistan were also sloppy in the field - Muneeba missed stumping Dilhari, and later failed to appeal for a stumping chance of Athapaththu - didn't help them either.

Just when it looked like Sri Lanka would have it easy, Pakistan fought back again through Iqbal. She dismissed Athapaththu in her final over to finish with figures of 4 for 16. In the following over, Hasini Perera was run out after a mix-up. Nashra Sandhu then conceded 13 of the penultimate over, where Kumari hit two fours to bring the equation down to three off six.

Dar brought herself on for the final over and dismissed Kumari off the second ball. With three required off three, Sanjeewani and Kulasuriya's singles took Sri Lanka over the line in a dramatic fashion.