Sri Lanka suffered an injury blow in their Asia Cup Super 4 match against Pakistan when spinner Mahesh Theekshana strained his right hamstring.
“Theekshana sustained the injury while he was fielding during the ongoing game between Sri Lanka and Pakistan. The player will undergo a scan tomorrow to fully assess his condition,” an official statement from Sri Lanka cricket board stated.
Meanwhile, fifties by Abdullah Shafique and Mohammad Rizwan were the rocks around which Pakistan built their competitive 252 for seven against Sri Lanka on Thursday.
🚨 Maheesh Theekshana has strained his right hamstring.
The player will undergo a scan tomorrow to fully assess his condition.
Theekshana sustained the injury while he was fielding during the ongoing game between Sri Lanka and Pakistan.#AsiaCup2023 #SLvPAK pic.twitter.com/6RTSRxhKNQ
— Sri Lanka Cricket 🇱🇰 (@OfficialSLC) September 14, 2023
Both Pakistan and Sri Lanka are tied on two points each, and the winner of this match will face India in the final on Sunday.
Shafique (52 off 69 balls) and Rizwan (86 not out off 73 balls) played contrasting knocks after Pakistan elected to bat first on another rain-affected day. They received some late push from Iftikhar Ahmed (47 off 40 balls).
The intermittent rain reduced the match first to a 45-over-a-side affair and then to 42 overs, and that meant Pakistan needed to redesign their target constantly.
The pitch was not the smoothest to bat on either, but Pakistan found some early momentum through Shafique and captain Babar Azam (29) after the early dismissal of Fakhar Zaman.
Shafique and Babar milked 64 runs in a little over 11 overs. Shafique scored runs in a more orthodox way and his cracking cover drive off pacer Matheesha Pathirana (3/65) was a sight for sore eyes.
Just as the second wicket alliance was blossoming, Dunith Wellalage snapped it.
The left-arm spinner, who grabbed five top-order batters against India on Tuesday, this time weaved his magic around Babar.
Babar assumed the ball was coming into him once it pitched outside the off-stump and played for the spin, but it went away from him for Kusal Mendis to complete a flash stumping.
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The dismissal of Babar pushed Pakistan into a mini-collapse as they lost three more wickets for 30 runs inside six overs.
At 130 for five, they were in grave danger of getting out for a below par total, as the Lankan spinners tried to dominate the proceedings in the middle overs as they had done against India.
But Rizwan and Iftikhar dashed their hopes during an entertaining 108-run stand for the sixth wicket.
Veteran wicketkeeper batsman Rizwan was not really among runs of late, and he chose a perfect moment to get a few against his name.
With Agency Inputs
