T20 World Cup: Sri Lanka fall short, but knock Pakistan out

With the semifinal not even a mathematical possibility, Sri Lanka would have only hoped for a winning end to a colourless T20 World Cup campaign. And they came really close, only to end 6 runs short of the target. They only managed 207 for 6 at Pallekele chasing 213, and in the process knocked Pakistan out of the contest. But not before a nail-biting last-over drama.

Needing 28 in 6 balls, captain Dasun Shanaka, tonked Shaheen Shah Afridi for a 4 and a hat-trick of sixes to raise hopes of a winning end. Now needing 6 in two balls, he tried a reverse scoop in the fourth ball and missed it completely. He then engineered an anti-climactic end by leaving the final ball, thinking it would be a wide, only to see the umpire calling it "over".  

 Statistically, Pakistan had to restrict co-hosts Sri Lanka to 147 or fewer to advance after posting 212 for 8 with the bat. Having failed at that, New Zealand will go through to the last four, courtesy of a better net run rate.

For most of the second half of the match, Pakistan were probably more worried about 147 than defending 213. To be sure, they were in the hunt too. They reduced Sri Lanka to 101 for 5 in 12 overs, making 147 too far a target. But Pavan Rathnayake and Shanaka added 61 runs in 5.3 overs to put out any Pakistani hopes.

Earlier, Sahibzada Farhan (100) and Fakhar Zaman (84) put on a record partnership of 176 runs for any wicket for Pakistan in T20 World Cup history to power their team to a formidable 212/8.

Pakistan openers came out all guns blazing in their bid to put a big score on board. Zaman, who fell for a 42-ball 84 in the 16th over after playing on, was given two lifelines as he feasted on the Sri Lankan bowling attack that kept feeding the left-handed batter in his hitting zone.

But it was Farhan (100 off 60 balls, 9x4s, 5x6s) who took the early initiative as Pakistan crossed the 50-run mark inside the fifth over, getting the momentum of scoring at least 10 runs per over, which they maintained well.

The right-handed Farhan went past Virat Kohli's record of most runs (319) in a single edition of a T20 World Cup and also notched up his second ton of the tournament, against a bowling attack that kept missing its line and lengths under pressure.

However, a flurry of wickets, including Farhan's, who fell immediately after completing his ton, saw Pakistan missing out on some extra runs in the middle. From 176/0 in the 16th over, Pakistan lost eight wickets for 36 runs in last four overs.