Charith Asalanka did not dwell on Pakistan’s six-wicket win for too long. The Sri Lanka captain went straight to the nub of it: two wickets in two balls, the eighth over of their innings, and the whole thing slipped.
Sri Lanka had reached 58 for 3 after 7.1 overs in this Asia Cup Super Four fixture, a position hardly ideal yet still serviceable on a tricky Dubai surface. Then Asalanka feathered Hussain Talat to deep square-leg. Next ball, Dasun Shanaka nicked behind. Suddenly five down with almost two-thirds of the overs still to bat, Sri Lanka crawled to 133 for 8 and Pakistan knocked the target off with time to spare.
“Although we didn’t get a great start from the openers, at the end of the powerplay we still had 53 runs. We’d lost three wickets, but we were still in a good place, because it’s not easy to score that many in the powerplay,” Asalanka said afterwards. “But then myself and Dasun got out off successive deliveries, and that was when the biggest damage was done.”
He did not try to hide behind bad luck. “Neither Dasun or I were going for big shots when we got out. I was trying to put the ball into a gap, but ended up top-edging it. Dasun also played a normal shot first up. But we have to take responsibility.”
Responsibility, though, was shared around. Kamindu Mendis’ 50 from 44 balls, with tidy help from Wanindu Hasaranga and Chamika Karunaratne, gave the bowlers something – just – to aim at. “We lost five wickets in the first half of our innings, and against these kinds of teams it’s really hard to come back from that,” Asalanka admitted. “Kamindu and the others fought hard, but Wanindu also got out at a bad time, when it had felt like we could get to 150. In the end it was not enough.”
Sri Lanka have now shipped two heavy defeats in the Super Four, leaving only the faintest mathematical chance of reaching the final. Selection tweaks have done little to halt the slide. Kamil Mishara made way for Karunaratne to shore up the bowling, but the price was one fewer specialist bat and, ultimately, a below-par total.
Asalanka believes the chopping and changing can’t last much longer with next year’s T20 World Cup looming. “We’ve had lots of issues with our combinations, and that’s something we have to get right ahead of the World Cup,” he said. “We tried going with an extra bowler today, but we lost a specialist batsman because of that, and didn’t score the runs we needed. Other times we’ve played an extra batsman and couldn’t defend a score with the ball.”
The equation sounds simple – score more, concede less – but execution has proved elusive. Strike-rates above 140 have been scarce among the top six, and death-overs control remains patchy. Asalanka is clear on the immediate goals: “We need to figure out how to consistently score 180 to 200, and also how to use the part-time bowlers – myself, Dasun, Kamindu Mendis – better. Those are things we need to improve in the future.”
Some context helps. Dubai’s surface offered modest pace and the odd skiddy length ball – enough for Pakistan’s seamers to threaten but hardly unplayable. Where Sri Lanka faltered was tempo. Singles dried up, boundaries became gambles, and panic crept in. Seasoned observers such as former all-rounder Farveez Maharoof, speaking on television, highlighted muddled intent in the middle overs: no clear plan to rotate, no one willing to absorb a maiden for the greater good.
Pakistan, by contrast, kept methods plain. Early swing from Shaheen Afridi, a mix of cutters from Talat, then sensible batting led by Babar Azam. Late in the chase, Babar drove through extra cover with calm inevitability, a shot that summed up the gap between the sides on the night.
Sri Lanka now head to Colombo for a dead-rubber of sorts, yet the match still matters. A settled XI, a decisive role for each bowler, a batting group that understands which overs to attack – these are boxes Asalanka wants ticked before the World Cup countdown gets too loud. Mistakes will happen; he conceded as much. The key, he said, is to avoid repeating the same ones.
In Dubai, two deliveries undid an innings. In the bigger picture, Sri Lanka hope a clearer plan can prevent one poor over writing another sorry chapter.
