Pakistan will face Sri Lanka in their final Super Four game. In their last appearance at the Colombo venue, Pakistan suffered a heavy defeat against their arch-rivals India.
In the 11th match of the 2023 Asia Cup, Pakistan will face Sri Lanka in the Super Fours at the R.Premadasa Stadium on Thursday afternoon. The competition has been dominated by rain in recent days but the ground staff have been brilliant and will be working hard to prepare the pitch for this game. The day-night match begins at 3:00 p.m. local time in Colombo.
Pakistan will want to put in a top performance in this game, not only to qualify for the 2023 Asia Cup final but also to put their huge defeat against India to shame.
Sri Lanka showed a lot of character against India, reducing the score from 80 without loss to 91-3 and then being bowled out for 213. If Dunith Wellalage can bowl with the same accuracy, they will be hard to beat in this game.
Team Preview
Pakistan
Babar Azam and Co. will go back to the drawing board after a crushing defeat against India. The skipper needs to rethink his tactics and strategies for his bowlers.
He looked a bit defensive at times with his bowling changes and allowed the Indian batsmen to recover. This was evident in the group stage match when he brought in spinners for two overs after India were 4 points down.
The spinners failed to take a wicket and India simply recovered with a strong partnership. And with pacers Haris Rauf and Naseem Shah unlikely to feature in this must-win game, Babar Azam finds himself in a tough spot.
The two pacers suffered injuries during the match against India and Pakistan and could bring in Shahnawaz Dahani as a backup bowler. Mohammad Wasim Jr. has not featured in any of the matches yet and could be another pace bowling option for Pakistan.
Naseem Shah and Haris Rauf were the top wicket-takers in their first Super Fours game against Bangladesh. In the last match between Sri Lanka and India, where the spinners were at the forefront, the pitch looked difficult.
Pakistan could consider a bowling attack with 3 pacers and 2 spinners. It won't be an easy game for Pakistan against Sri Lanka. As far as batting is concerned, the middle order hasn't been very promising and needs to find a rhythm.
Babar Azam, Imam-ul Haq and Mohammad Rizwan will be the key batters for Pakistan while Mohammad Nawaz will be crucial in the lower order.
Sri Lanka
The only team to challenge Sri Lanka was Afghanistan in the group stage. After a narrow win in that game, Sri Lanka came into the Super Fours with an even better performance and a bigger win.
When Sri Lanka played first in their first Super Fours game against Bangladesh, they scored fewer points than they did against Afghanistan. But this time the bowlers had it right.
They continued to deliver regular wickets, bowling out the opposition for 236 runs and securing a comfortable win by 21 runs.
They continued their bowling form while troubling the Indian batters, who were in excellent form and carrying the momentum of their victory over Pakistan.
However, they failed with the bat against India while chasing 214 runs. Dhananjaya de Silva and Dinuth Wellalage added 63 runs for the 7th wicket, putting Sri Lanka's run-chase back on track.
However, after the end of this partnership, Sri Lanka did not wag their tail and ended with a 41-run defeat.
Although Wellalage and Asalanka picked nine wickets against India, others like Maheesh Theekshana and Matheesha Pathirana will also be crucial with the ball.
Kusal Mendis and Samarawickrama are the key middle-order batters to watch out for. Charith Asalanka also comes in handy at number 5 and the experienced Dhananjaya de Silva can play a crucial knock further down the order.
Pitch Report
The surface at the R-Premadasa Stadium in Colombo is sporty. Pacers are expected to have decent bounce and lateral movement at this venue. However, the batters are rewarded for their stroke play. The captain who wins the toss might want to hunt that location.
Weather Report
Cloudy and damp conditions are forecast throughout the game in Colombo. There will be heavy rain in the area and there may well be some interruptions in play.
Toss Prediction
Although India won on Tuesday when they chose to bat first, we expect both teams to want to field first if they win the toss ahead of this game.
Match Prediction
Since India has already reached the final on Sunday and Bangladesh has been eliminated, the winner of this match will advance to the final. So there is a big prize for both teams if they win in this game as they would then be just one win away from the 2023 Asia Cup trophy and also have a chance of beating India after this week's defeats. Even without Haris Rauf and Naseem Shah, Pakistan will still have a good bowling attack and strong batters. We expect a close game but predict a win for Pakistan.
Sri Lanka to beat Pakistan
Head to Head
Both teams have played 155 games against each other so far. Pakistan won 92 of them while Sri Lanka could only win 58. 1 game ended in a draw, while 3 games produced no result.
Venue Details
The R. Premadasa Stadium in Colombo will host the Super Fours match between Pakistan and Sri Lanka in the 2023 Asia Cup. The average 1st innings score at this venue is just 233 runs and given recent games here we reckon even that would be a competitive total in this game.
Betting Tips
Both teams played well in the group stage and with a place in the final still up for grabs, we can expect an exciting duel. The batting performance of both teams was pretty average, so it will be up to the bowlers to deliver. Pakistan undoubtedly have a quicker attack, but with Naseem Shah and Haris Rauf unlikely to feature in this game, the home team could have the advantage here.
Bet on Sri Lanka to win.
Probable Playing XI
Pakistan
Mohammad Haris, Babar Azam (C), Imam-ul-Haq, Saud Shakeel, Mohammad Nawaz, Iftikhar Ahmed, Faheem Ashraf, Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Shaheen Afridi, Mohammad Wasim Jr., Zaman Khan
Babar Azam had a great start to the 2023 Asia Cup with a brilliant hundred against Nepal but his form has dipped in recent games. Against India he looked at a loss against the fiery bowling of Bumrah and Co. but he will be keen to put in a good performance with the bat in this game and he is too good a player to be out of form for any length of time.
Shaheen Shah Afridi – The fast bowler continues to be one of the best bowlers in world cricket. He is yet to take a wicket in this year's Asia Cup.
Sri Lanka Key Players
Pathum Nissanka – The right-handed opener has a top score of 137 in ODI cricket and had posted several scores above 40 in this tournament before a short innings against India.
Sadeera Samarawickrama - The 28-year-old failed to repeat his 93 from Saturday but still showed the ability to stay near the crease longer than many of his teammates against India.
Dunith Wellalage - The 20-year-old left-arm spinner posted his best-ever ODI figures in Tuesday's match as he dismissed India's top three batters plus KL Raul and Hardik Pandya.
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