Athapaththu's unbeaten 83 carries Sri Lanka past Pakistan into the Asian Games final

Sri Lanka are into the Asian Games gold-medal match after Chamari Athapaththu's unbeaten 83 pulled apart Pakistan in Nisshin

Sri Lanka Women beat Pakistan Women by eight wickets in the first semi-final at Korogi Sports Park on Sunday, reaching 181 for 2 with 13 balls unused after Pakistan had posted 177 for 4.

Athapaththu, who had put Pakistan in after winning the toss, finished the job herself with 83 from 50 balls, an innings of seven fours and six sixes that never allowed the chase to become a contest.

Pakistan drop into the bronze-medal match on Tuesday. Sri Lanka will play the winner of the second semi-final between India and Bangladesh for gold.

Zafar and Zulfiqar repair a first-ball setback

Pakistan lost Gull Feroza to the opening delivery of the match, a start that might have settled the semi-final before it began.

Instead Ayesha Zafar and Shawaal Zulfiqar put on a century stand that carried the innings. Zafar made 71 from 40 balls with nine fours and two sixes, the most fluent batting of the Pakistan innings.

Zulfiqar was the anchor alongside her, taking 50 deliveries over her 54. Captain Fatima Sana came in late and finished 20 not out from 12 balls to lift the total past 175.

Kawya Kavindi was the most economical of the Sri Lanka bowlers with 1-13, and Athapaththu took a wicket of her own for 30 runs.

Athapaththu settles the chase early

A target of 178 asked Sri Lanka for just under nine an over, and their captain removed the arithmetic from the equation inside the powerplay.

She struck at better than a run a ball throughout, and the six sixes came against pace and spin alike. By the time she reached the fifties Pakistan had no field setting left to try.

Athapaththu was still there at the end, unbeaten and 17 short of a hundred she plainly did not need.

It is the kind of innings that has defined her career in the shorter formats, and it arrived on the one afternoon of the tournament that Sri Lanka could least afford to lose.

Perera's cameo turns the game

Imesha Dulani made 26 from 21 balls at the top before Fatima Sana removed her, the only real check on the chase.

Hasini Perera then matched her captain for tempo, making 42 from 26 balls with three fours and three sixes in a second-wicket stand of 95.

When Nashra Sandhu finally broke the partnership, Harshitha Samarawickrama came in and hit 17 not out from 12 balls to close it out.

Pakistan's attack finds no answer

Fatima Sana was the pick of the Pakistan bowlers with 1-24 from her three overs, and Sandhu took the only other wicket to fall.

Sri Lanka Cricket called the result "a clinical 8-wicket victory" in a statement after the match.

Pakistan have now to regroup for the bronze-medal match against the losing side from the second semi-final, scheduled for Tuesday at the same ground.

An opponent still to be decided

The second semi-final followed at Korogi Sports Park, with India batting first against Bangladesh and posting 195 for 4 from their 20 overs.

India are the defending Asian Games champions in women's cricket and arrived in Japan having won the Asia Cup, which makes a Sri Lanka-India final the most likely shape of the medal match.

Sri Lanka have beaten Pakistan comfortably enough here to go into that match with their captain in form and their batting order barely tested.

The gold and bronze medal matches are both scheduled for Tuesday, closing out a competition that has run since the quarter-finals earlier in the week.

Scorecard: Pakistan Women 177 for 4 (Ayesha Zafar 71, Shawaal Zulfiqar 54, Kawya Kavindi 1-13) lost to Sri Lanka Women 181 for 2 (Chamari Athapaththu 83*, Hasini Perera 42, Fatima Sana 1-24) by eight wickets.

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