Deadly spell from spinners Nashra Sandhu and Nida Dar restricted Sri Lanka to a modest 122/6 against Pakistan in the semifinal match of Women's Asia Cup 2022 in Sylhet on Thursday.
Electing to bat first, Sri Lanka was not off to a good start as Nida dismissed skipper Chamari Athapaththu (10 off 11 balls), dislodging her stumps while she was looking to slog.
Anushka Sanjeewani and Harshitha Samarawickrama tried to take the innings forward. But their partnership was cut short at 16 runs by Sandhu, who sent back Sanjeewani for 26 off 21 balls.
Samarawickrama was joined by Nilakshi de Silva and they took Sri Lanka through the powerplay without any further damage. In six overs, SL was at 41/2, with Samarawickrama (2*) and Silvas (0*).
Samarawickrama put a 50-run stand with Silva, but it lacked pace. By the time their stand was over after Sandhu caught and bowled Silva for 14 off 27 balls, SL was at 89/3 in 15.3 overs.
Sandhu continued to run riot over SL's batting attack, dismissing a well-set Samarawickrama for 35 off 41. SL was at 102/4 in 17.5 overs.
Hasini Perera was clean bowled by Sadia Iqbal for 13, while Oshadi Ranasinghe lost her wicket to pacer Aiman Anwer for 8 off 7 balls on the final ball of the innings.
Sri Lanka ended their innings at 122/6 in their 20 overs, with Kavisha Dilhari (7*) at the crease.
Sandhu impressed with a spell of 3/17 in four overs. Nida, Sadia and Aiman took a wicket each.
Pakistan need 123 runs to seal a place in the final against arch-rivals India.
( With inputs from ANI )
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