ICC Champions Trophy 2017: Sri Lanka vs Pakistan, 5 things that went wrong for Sri Lanka
Pakistan completed a famous three-wicket victory over Sri Lanka at Cardiff and became the final team to enter the semis of the ICC Champions Trophy 2017. Sarfraz Ahmed undoubtedly played the innings of his life as, despite a middle-order collapse, he guided Pakistan home with an unbeaten 61.
Sri Lanka batted first and were bundled out for 236 as Niroshan Dickwella was the highest scorer for them with 73. But some poor shots coupled with some brilliant bowling meant Sri Lanka lost their way in the middle.
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So, without further ado, let's take a look at the five things that went wrong for Sri Lanka in their virtual quarterfinal against Pakistan:
#5 Middle order collapse
Against India, it was Sri Lanka's brilliance with the bat which saw them through. Tonight, more of the same was required and at one stage Angelo Mathews and Niroshan Dickwella looked like they would bat Pakistan out of the match. At that point, the Lankans looked set to cross 300 in 50 overs but, in the end, they managed just 236 as the middle order crumbled.
It all started with Mathews' dismissal as Amir provided Pakistan with the much-needed break through. Dhananjaya de Silva followed suit off the bowling of Junaid Khan. Dickwella and Thisara Perera then lost their way as Sri Lanka were reduced to 167/7 from 161/3 at one stage. It was this collapse, albeit against a brilliant spell of bowling from Amir and Junaid, which led to the downfall of Sri Lanka.