On both the occasions, Hasaranga imitated the hands-on-chest celebration of Pakistan spinner Abrar Ahmed, who had earlier mocked the Lankan player copying his ‘Neymar’ celebration after castling him.
At 80 for five, the match was wide open with Pakistan still needing 54 runs and a defeat would have knocked them out of the race of the tournament. However, they found two willing soldiers in Hussain Talat (32 not out, 30 balls) and Mohammad Nawaz (38 not out, 24 balls), who collected the remaining runs with composure as Pakistan touched the tape with two overs to spare.
Earlier, Pakistan pacers put the Sri Lankan batters through the wringer despite Kamindu Mendis’ fine fifty, restricting them for a vastly under-par 133 for eight.
Sent into bat, Sri Lanka made a woeful start, losing in-form Kusal Mendis in the second ball, and an over later Pathum Nissanka, their most consistent batter in the tournament, too walked back.
On a night that offered plenty of seam movement to pacers, Shaheen Shah Afridi (3/28) made the first strike, eliciting an uppish flick from Mendis that ended with Talat.