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Pakistan captain Babar Azam has once again failed to make his chance count as he fell for 29 off 35 deliveries in the Super 4 clash against Sri Lanka in Colombo. The right-handed batter was stumped off Dunith Wellalage's left-arm spin as Kusal Mendis affected a smart stumping.
The incident occurred in the 16th over of the innings as the 20-year-old came into bowl his fourth over of the innings. The final ball of the over to Babar pitched on off-stump but turned away. Kusal Mendis dislodged the stumps and the bails had lit when the Pakistan skipper's back foot was in the air. The decision went upstairs and the third umpire ruled it out.
Wellalage was the star of Sri Lanka's previous Super 4 game against India as he took a fifer, including taking the prized wickets of Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma in his 10-over spell. He was left stranded on 42 as the Island nation lost by 41 runs. Hence, the current match looms as a must-win match for them.
Babar Azam has failed to make a substantial contribution since his 151 against Nepal
Meanwhile, Babar Azam started Asia Cup 2023 with a dashing 151 off 131 deliveries that scripted Pakistan's 238-run win over Nepal. However, the 28-year-old has made scores of 17, 10, and 29 since. Taskin Ahmed and Hardik Pandya rearranged his stumps for 17 and 10 in Pakistan's matches against Bangladesh and India, respectively.
Despite his failures, the right-hander is currently the leading run-getter in the ongoing edition. The ongoing clash began after over two hours of rain delay, with only 45 overs per side.
Pakistan, who announced their playing XI a day earlier, carried out two changes again and decided to bat first.
Fakhar Zaman replaced Imam-ul-Haq, who developed a back spasm, while Abdullah Shafique replaced Saud Shakeel, who reportedly has a fever. While even a no-result situation will do for Sri Lanka, Pakistan must beat the hosts due to their negative net run rate.
