Pakistan women out of Asian Games final: Athapaththu 83* beats 177 for 4

Pakistan are out of the Asian Games women's cricket final. Sri Lanka chased 178 in Nisshin on Sunday with 13 balls to spare, Chamari Athapaththu finishing unbeaten on 83 from 50 balls to win the first semi-final by eight wickets.

Sri Lanka 181 for 2 (Athapaththu 83, Hasini Perera 42) beat Pakistan 177 for 4 (Ayesha Zafar 71, Shawaal Zulfiqar 54) by eight wickets.*

Pakistan's 177 was not the problem

The batting did its job. Ayesha Zafar made 71 off 40 balls and Shawaal Zulfiqar 54, and 177 for 4 in a T20 semi-final is a total you expect to defend. Sri Lanka's reply was slow enough at the start to suggest it would be: Athapaththu was on 7 off 12 at the end of the powerplay without a single boundary, while Imesha Dulani did the early damage with a 21-ball 27.

The match turned in the eighth over. Athapaththu took 6, 4, 6, 4 off Momina Riasat, 20 runs in six balls, and the chase never slowed again. One of those sixes should not have been: Fatima Sana caught the slog-sweep at deep midwicket and then stepped on the rope while flicking the ball back into play. Athapaththu was on 18 off 19 at the time.

She then hit two fours and a six off Nashra Sandhu in the 10th over, and Hasini Perera took two sixes and a four off Tuba Hassan in the 13th. Hasini's 26-ball 42 ended a stand of 95 in 56 balls. Sri Lanka needed 47 off 36 at that point and took 23 balls to get them. The total equalled Sri Lanka's highest in a successful chase.

Pakistan play for bronze on Tuesday

Pakistan drop into the third place play-off at Nisshin on Tuesday 22 September, 9:00 am local, which is 5:00 am in Pakistan. The opponent is the loser of the second semi-final between India and Bangladesh. The final follows the same day at 2:00 pm local, 10:00 am in Pakistan, with Sri Lanka already through.

Pakistan reached the semi-final by beating Thailand in a rain-shortened quarter-final at the same ground.

Why this one stings

Asian Games cricket is a medal event, and a bronze is still a medal, but the final was the target. Pakistan's women beat a full-strength side in the quarter-final and put 177 on the board in the semi, and lost anyway to one innings from the best T20 batter Sri Lanka have produced. That is the gap the domestic system is being asked to close, which is the same argument behind the PCB's new franchise development money and its school talent hunt.

More on both: PCB puts $200,000 on the table for the PSL franchise that develops most and the school talent hunt across 1,400 schools.