TIL Desk Sports/ Skipper Sarfraz Ahmed led from the front as he smashed an unbeaten half-century to guide Pakistan to a three-wicket win over Sri Lanka in their do-or-die Champions Trophy fixture and eventually to the semi-finals here at the Sophia Gardens on Monday.
Chasing a target of 237 runs to win in the virtual quarterfinal clash, Pakistan held their nerve to come out victorious in this knockout encounter. Pakistan made a great start to their innings with openers Azhar Ali (34) and Fakhar Zaman (50) stitching a crucial 75-run stand to provide their side to laid the platform.
However, Pakistan lost their next three batsmen in quick successions-Babar Azam (10), Mohammad Hafeez (one) and Shoaib Malik (11), who was playing his 250th ODI game. Imad Wasim and Fahim Ashraf also got out cheaply for four and 15 runs respectively and it looked unlikely for Pakistan to cross the line after being reduced to 162-7.
But Sri Lanka’s disintegrated fielding in the last 45 minutes with couple of dropped catches and Sarfraz subsequent half-century saw Pakistan book their place in the semi-finals.
