Pakistan 'A' remained in the hunt for the final berth after defeating Sri Lanka 'A' by 48 runs in the Kenstar Asian 'A' Teams cricket tournament at Kolkata on Saturday.
Set to score 245 for victory, Sri Lanka were cruising at 106 for three, when the complexion of the match changed as the batsmen from the emerald Islands got out to a series of poor shots and were involved in terrible mix-ups resulting in three inexplicable run outs to fold up for 196 in 44.5 overs.
Earlier, put into bat by Lankan skipper Russel Arnold, Pakistan reached 244 in 48.3 overs in difficult conditions at the Eden Gardens, thanks to useful knocks from Faisal Iqbal (57) and man of the match Naveed Latif (50).
All eyes will now be focused on Sunday's last league match between India and Pakistan which is a must-win for the latter for a place in the December 30 title clash.
While India are already through to the final, Pakistan moved to seven points, including a bonus from today's game. Sri Lanka have wrapped up their group league engagements on 10 points.
Scoreboard:
Pakistan 'A':
S Butt c Arnold b Herath 40
Md Hafeez c Jayawardane b Zoysa 0
S B Nasir c Hearth b Arnold 35
F Iqbal c Kulasekara b Maharoof 57
S Afridi c Jayawardane b Herath 1
N Latif lbw b Maharoof 50
B Asad c Nawaz b Maharoof 24
A Rehman c Arnold b Maharoof 1
M Amjad b Kulasekara 17
Md Khalil run out 2
Md Irshad not out 0
Extras (lb-4, nb-5, w-8) 17
Total (all out in 48.3 overs) 244
Fall of wickets: 1/2, 2/72, 3/111, 4/113, 5/198, 6/212, 7/214, 8/232, 9/244.
Bowling: N Zoysa 9-2-25-1, P Maharoof 10-0-53-4, N Kulasekara 4.3-0-41-1, S Jayantha 10-0-35-0, R Arnold 5-0-32-1, R Herath 10-0-54-2.
Sri Lanka 'A':
S Kalavitigoda c (sub) Z Zia b Asad 38
S Jayantha c A Rehman b Khalil 15
J Mubarrak run out 15
P Jayawardane c Hafeez b Amjad 16
R Arnold lbw b Hafeez 9
N Nawaz b Afridi 47
T Kandamby c and b Hafeez 10
P Maharaoof run out 0
N Zoysa lbw b Hafeez 2
R Herath run out 0
N Kulasekara not out 9
Extras (b-4, lb-8, nb-7, w-16) 35
Total (all out, 44.5 overs) 196
Fall of wickets: 1/36, 2/75, 3/83, 4/106, 5/127, 6/143, 7/149, 8/155, 9/157.
Bowling: M Irshad 7-0-50-0, Md Khalil 10-3-30-1, B Asad 4-0-19-1, M Amjad 10-1-37-1, M Hafeez 10-0-29-3, S Afridi 2.5-0-15-1, N Latif 1-0-4-0.
