Veteran spinner Rangana Herath grabbed three for 25 to lift hosts Sri Lanka into the World Twenty20 final with a 16-run victory over Pakistan in Colombo.
Sri Lanka, restricted to 139 for four after electing to bat, hit back to keep Pakistan down to 123 for seven in a thrilling semi-final before 35,000 screaming fans at the Premadasa stadium. Herath, the 34-year-old left-arm spinner playing only his sixth Twenty20 international, was supported by two wickets each from seamer Angelo Mathews and unorthodox spinner Ajantha Mendis.
It was Sri Lanka’s second appearance in the World Twenty20 final, having lost to Pakistan in the 2009 title clash at Lord’s.
Rival captains Mahela Jayawardene and Mohammad Hafeez top-scored for their teams with 42 each, but the other batsmen struggled to force the pace on a sluggish pitch that hampered stroke-making. Sri Lanka wasted a sound start to plod to 123 for four in 19 overs, before Thisara Perera smashed three boundaries in the final over of seamer Umar Gul, which yielded 16 runs.
Pakistan’s openers Hafeez and Imran Nazir began the reply on a confident note, putting on 31 for the first wicket in six overs despite playing on missing on various occasions.
Mendis, brought on to send down the sixth over, broke the stand with the last delivery by bowling Nazir for 20. Pakistan moved to 55 for one in the ninth over when Mathews grabbed two wickets in four balls to swing the match Sri Lanka’s way.
‘Middle-order collapse was a setback’
Hafeez was disappointed but focused on the positives.
“Every person gave his 100 per cent,” said Hafeez. “Jamshed and Raza have been among the positives for us in this tournament. We were in the game but the middle-order collapsed.
“I thank the fans who came here to support us. We really wanted to do something for them.”
Our mistakes did not cost us: Jayawardene
Meanwhile, the Sri Lanka captain was a pleased man.
“It means a great deal,” said Jayawardene. “We knew that Pakistan were weak against left-arm spin and we weren’t sure how the wicket would behave. We felt we were 15 short and 140 was a par score. We made mistakes in the field but it didn’t cost us.”
The second semi-final will be played today between Australia and the West Indies.
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