Sri Lanka made 207/6 in chase of 213-run target and lost the game by 5 runs.
Pakistan was asked to bat first after Sri Lanka captain Dasun Shanaka won the toss. Pakistan openers Sahibzada Farhan and Fakhar Zaman decided to take the attack to Sri Lanka bowlers and hammered 176 runs in 15.5 overs for the first wicket.
Sahibzada hit 100 in 60 balls with 9 fours and 5 sixes, while Zaman made 84 in 42 balls with 9 fours and 4 sixes. Sahibzada Farhan became the first batter to hit two centuries in a single T20 World Cup and also went past Virat Kohli’s record of most runs in one edition of the event.
Pakistan managed to post 212/8 in 20 overs and had to keep Sri Lanka to 147 or less to qualify for the semis.
Sri Lanka batters struggled against some excellent Pakistani bowling, especially Abrar Ahmed, who took 3/23 in 4 overs. However, Kamil Mishara (26), Charith Asalanka (25), and Pavan Ratnayake (58) kept Sri Lanka on course for the par total.
They received a huge boost from captain Dasun Shanaka, whose 31-ball 78* not only took Sri Lanka past the 147-run mark but also close to the winning target. Shanaka hammered 8 sixes and 2 fours in his knock.
Sri Lanka needed 28 runs in the last over, with Shanaka facing Shaheen Afridi, and the Sri Lanka captain hammered a four on the first ball and three consecutive sixes on the next three balls. With six needed off two balls, Shanaka failed to connect on the penultimate ball.
On the last ball, Shaheen went with a wide yorker outside off stump, and Shanaka left the ball, expecting a wide call from the umpire. If a wide had been called, there would have been a chance for Sri Lanka to tie the game with 5 needed off the last ball.
However, much to his and the Sri Lanka dugout's surprise, the umpire didn’t call the ball a wide, and Sri Lanka finished on 207/6 and lost the game by 5 runs.
Fans on social media slammed the umpire’s decision on the game's final ball. They felt it was a wide ball and that the umpire's ruling was incorrect.
Here are some posts: