Pakistan fielders made a mess of a catching opportunity in the penultimate over of Sri Lanka's first innings in Asia Cup 2022 final. In another collision Shadab Khan dived towards Asif Ali which led to a costly drop of set batter Bhanuka Rajapaksa at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium.
After the nasty collision, Shadab laid on the ground for a while. The physio rushed to his aid and after a while he stood up and walked outside the ground. For few minutes he sat outside the boundary and then walked towards the dugout as substitute fielder took his place on the field.
After the drop, Rajapaksa made Pakistan pay in the final over and scored 14 runs including a four and six. Even the dropped catch was converted into a six. In case Asif dropped the ball, it would have landed inside the boundary and the target may have been shortened.
It was not the only dropped catch of the innings. Shadab dropped another in the 18th over. At long-on, Shadab dropped catch Rajapaksa off Haris Rauf's bowling. The ball bounced off his hands and three runs were scored off it.
The Pakistan leggie got injured earlier in the innings as well. On the last ball of the fifth delivery, the bad bounce got the better of him and he was hit on the left side of his head. He was sliding across trying to prevent an overthrow.
Despite an unimpressive outing in the fielding department, he bowled well in the middle overs. In the four overs he bowled, he conceded 28 runs and got the wicket of in-form Sri Lankan spinner Dasun Shanaka.
As Pakistan fielders were lacklustre in the field, Sri Lanka managed to post a challenging total of 170/6 in 20 overs after losing half of their side for 58 in the ninth over. The crucial sixth-wicket partnership between Rajapaksa and Wanindu Hasaranga helped Sri Lanka recover. They put on 68 runs from seven overs. Rajapaksa remained not out for 71 off 45 deliveries.
