Sri Lanka knocked Pakistan out of the last Asia Cup with a ball to spare, and tonight the winner plays India
The last place in Sunday’s Women’s Asia Cup final is decided in Dubai on Friday night. Sri Lanka have not lost a game in this tournament, and Pakistan were bowled out for 55 in it.
Sep 11, 2026
The Women’s Asia Cup has one semi-final left. Sri Lanka play Pakistan at the Dubai International Stadium at 8pm IST on Friday, and the winner meets India in Sunday’s final at the same ground. India booked their place on Thursday night by beating Bangladesh by 40 runs.
Sri Lanka are the holders. They beat India in the 2024 final, and they reached that final by knocking Pakistan out in the semi at Dambulla, chasing 141 with a single ball to spare. Chamari Athapaththu made 63 off 48 that night and took the player-of-the-match award. She is still the captain.
Sri Lanka have not lost a game here
Three group matches, three wins. They beat the UAE by nine wickets on August 29, then Indonesia by 75 runs on September 2 in a match Athapaththu finished with 7 for 5 and a hat-trick, the best any Sri Lankan woman has bowled in a T20 international. They closed Group B against Bangladesh on September 6 and won that one the hard way, 44 for 5 chasing 115 before Harshitha Samarawickrama got them home with four balls left.
The Bangladesh game is the useful one to look at. The other two came against sides from outside the established group, while that one showed what happens when Sri Lanka’s top order goes early on a slow pitch, which is the situation Dubai keeps producing.
Pakistan arrive on the other side of a collapse
Pakistan finished second in Group A. They beat Thailand by 35 runs, lost to India, and then beat Hong Kong by 72 to secure the semi-final place.
The India match on September 5 is the one that will be replayed in everyone’s head. Pakistan were bowled out for 55 in 18.1 overs, their lowest total in any T20 international, and India knocked the runs off in 8.4 overs for the loss of three wickets.
Two days later they made 143 for 8 against Hong Kong, and Nashra Sandhu took 6 for 7 as Hong Kong were dismissed for 71. Roughly the same batting order, a completely different afternoon. Which version turns up on Friday is the entire question.
What the recent meetings say
These two played a three-match T20I series in Dambulla in the weeks before this tournament and Sri Lanka took it 2-1. Sri Lanka won the second game by six wickets, chasing 176 in 17.4 overs, which is a long way from anything either side has managed in Dubai. Pakistan took the dead rubber on August 4 by four wickets, Ayesha Zafar making 39 off 31 in a chase of 114.
Dubai has been slower and lower than any of that. India’s 149 for 6 on Thursday was a working total rather than a good one, and Bangladesh never got near it. Spin has done most of the damage across the fortnight, and the seamers have found something with the new ball early on. India’s 193 for 5 against Hong Kong on September 3 was the exception rather than the pattern.
Pakistan’s case rests heavily on Nashra Sandhu’s left-arm spin, which suits what this surface has been offering. Sri Lanka’s rests on their captain, who has already taken seven wickets in an innings at this tournament and who scored the runs that knocked Pakistan out of the last one.
Whoever wins stays in Dubai for Sunday’s final, against an India side that has not lost a match here either.