Fatima Sana's heroics in vain as Sri Lanka reach Asia Cup final

Sri Lanka will face India in the final of the Women's Asia Cup for the third successive time after Chamari Athapaththu's side downed Pakistan by four wickets in a closely-contested semifinal in Dubai on Friday (September 11). Fatima Sana's all-round show (47* off 36 and 4 for 38) went in vain as Sri Lanka came up with a collective effort - led by Harshitha Samarawickrama and Kavisha Dilhari - to surpass Pakistan's 130 for 5 with 8 deliveries to spare.

Sri Lanka stuttered early in the chase, with Sana bagging two crucial wickets in the second over. Before Sana struck again with the very next ball to dismiss Sanjana Kavindi, Athapaththu fell for five out of six. Imesha Dulani struck a few boundaries but Pakistan continued to squeeze the defending champions. After Umm-e-Hani removed the well-set Dulani for 22, Hasini Perera was run out for three by Sadia Iqbal, putting Sri Lanka in serious trouble at 35/4 after seven overs. Dilhari and Samarawickrama worked together carefully to get their team to 53 for 4 at the halfway point.

The game swung in the next few overs as Dilhari and Samarawickrama struck some much-needed boundaries, with Tuba Hassan at the receiving end as she conceded 22 in her first two overs. In 42 balls, the fifth wicket pair made a half-century stand, reducing the total to 36 off 30 balls. Skipper Sana brought herself back into the attack in what was an eventful 17th over. She took Samarawickrama's wicket, and Shawaal Zulfiqar caught her diving at short fine leg. Dilhari and Nilakshika Silva both scored boundaries in the same over, but Sana struck again and took her fourth wicket when Dilhari was wrongly bowled leg before despite attempting to scoop.

Nilakshika made an important boundary off Sadia, reducing Sri Lanka's 22 off 18 to 13 off 12. After Sana hit a chest-high full-toss, Kaushani Nuthyangana hit a six, and Nilakshika hit the winning boundary to set up a final matchup with India.

Prior to Zulfiqar providing some impetus with a brisk 24 off 16 with two fours and two sixes, Pakistan made a cautious start after being asked to bat, losing Muneeba Ali for 2 off 8. However, she fell to Athapaththu in the fifth over and Pakistan ended the Powerplay at 33 for 2, which became 52 for 4 after 10 overs as Athapaththu sent Ayesha Zafar back and Sadaf Shamas was stumped for 8 off Chamudi Praboda.

Even though Pakistan had a few good overs, Sri Lanka mostly kept the scoring rate down in the middle overs, with overs 11 to 15 yielding 31 runs. Gull Feroza, who scored 21 off 32, got out to Praboda as Pakistan reached 92/5 at the end of 16 overs.

Sana, however, stayed till the end, scoring an unbeaten 47 off 36 with four fours and two sixes, with Hassan supporting her in a 38-run sixth wicket stand to help Pakistan finish with a competitive total on a difficult surface, though it proved insufficient in the end as Sri Lanka continued their unbeaten run in the tournament.