Asia Cup 2025 | Super Four: Sri Lanka vs Pakistan | Preview and Predictions

After losing to arch-rivals India, Pakistan’s second Super Four encounter has virtually become a do-or-die encounter.

Now, Salman Agha & Co go against Sri Lanka, who also come into this game on the back of a defeat. Both teams have their backs against the wall, and the losing side will be out of contention for the final.

For this crucial Super Four encounter, here are our match preview and predictions.

Asia Cup 2025 | Super Four: SL vs PAK | 20:00 IST, September 23

Despite another loss to India, Pakistan have plenty of positives to take from the two clashes with the Men in Blue. After struggling with their opening pair, promoting Fakhar Zaman alongside Sahibzada Farhan seems to have done the trick. In the last game, Zaman took Jasprit Bumrah to the cleaners early on and was looking dangerous until he was done by a contentious decision, while Farhan continued with his aggressive approach — something Pakistan had been waiting for. 

As far as their batting setup is concerned, Pakistan will want to address their middle-order woes. They need their finishers to step up, as in the last game they went from 110/2 to managing only 171 despite having five wickets left.

The Men in Green’s bowling contingent has shown much more promise, with the likes of Haris Rauf and Faheem Ashraf breathing some fire into the attack. Rauf’s exclusion from the first couple of games remains a controversial call, but on tracks that aren’t zippy and have true bounce the seamers have found a way to make the ball do the talking. In the spin department, Saim Ayub remains a handy option.

Sri Lanka, on the other side, came into the Super Fours with a clean record but suffered a shock loss against Bangladesh in the last game. Much like India, the Lankan Lions had been clinical with both ball and bat in the tournament before coming undone against the Bangla Tigers.

With the ball, Nuwan Thushara, Dushmantha Chameera, and Wanindu Hasaranga have been key, generally being miserly on conditions that suit them. 

With the bat, Pathum Nissanka has been the mainstay at the top of the order, while Kamil Mishara, Kusal Mendis, and Dasun Shanaka have all got a decent amount of runs and time in the middle. The middle order does remain a concern for Sri Lanka, however, as it has not fired yet, with the team relying heavily on the top three batters.

Unlike the Dubai ground, the Abu Dhabi strip has something for the batters. Expect runs scored aplenty, with the slower bowlers shining in particular with the new ball, which has been gripping and holding — much to the annoyance of the batters. While Sri Lanka have had the last laugh against Pakistan in each of their last five T20Is, Pakistan come into this game with some confidence after a strong showing against India. We expect Salman Agha & Co to take the win here. 

Fantasy XI: Pathum Nissanka, Fakhar Zaman, Sahibzada Farhan, Saim Ayub, Kusal Mendis, Kusal Perera, Dasun Shanaka, Shaheen Afridi, Haris Rauf, Abrar Ahmed, Mohammad Nawaz, Matheesha Pathirana

Venue: Zayed Cricket Stadium, Abu Dhabi
Winners Prediction: Pakistan