Sri Lanka won the Hong Kong World Super Sixes tournament for the second time after defeating Pakistan by three wickets in the thrilling final.
Sri Lanka won the toss and elected to bowl first at the Mongkok Stadium on Sunday, after which they took a quick lead as Pakistan’s top-order fell.
Pakistan lost two wickets in the opening over. Mohammad Akhlaq resisted with a solid 48 runs. Faheem Ashraf scored 13 runs while Aamir Yamin, Asif Ali and Hussain Talat could score only six, zero and one runs respectively. Pakistan’s innings ended at 72 runs in the stipulated six overs.
Dhananjaya Lakshan and Thirandu Rathnayake led the Sri Lankan bowling attack with two wickets each and kept the pressure on Pakistan’s line-up.
Sri Lanka got off to a cautious start in the run chase. Thanks to a consistent performance from Sandwin Weerakody, who top-scored with 34, and skipper Lahiro Madhushanka’s brisk 19, Sri Lanka chased down the target of 73 with an over to spare.
Faheem Ashraf took two wickets for Pakistan, but it was not enough to stop Sri Lanka’s smooth progress towards victory.
This is Sri Lanka’s second win in the Super Six format which reflects their continued strength in the shorter format cricket.
