Despite a brilliant batting performance from Pakistan Women’s captain Fatima Sana, Sri Lanka came out on top yesterday, bringing Pakistan’s Women’s Asia Cup 2026 journey to an end in the semi-final.
Following the defeat, the captain herself revealed the two costly mistakes that prevented Pakistan from reaching the final.
Fatima Sana Says Harshitha Samarawickrama and Kavisha Dilhari Deserve Credit
After the match, the Pakistan women’s cricketer spoke to the media during the post-game conference, where she was asked when she felt the match had slipped away from Pakistan.
In response, Sana pointed to two reasons: the crucial partnership between Harshitha Samarawickrama and Kavisha Dilhari and the collapse Pakistan suffered after the 11th and 12th overs.
Sana said, “To be honest, I had belief until the last ball that anything could happen at any moment. The way Harshita and Kavisha were playing, we just needed one wicket at that point. The way they played, taking singles and doubles and handling the pressure of a high-pressure game, deserves credit.”
“And the way our team fought, I think we were up to the mark until around the 11th or 12th over. After that, we had a few collapses, which is why things went against us.” She added.
Pakistan Women captain Fatima Sana looks back at the Asia Cup semi-final match against Sri Lanka Women, which got interesting by the end.
She speaks on the loss and positives, credits the opposition plus adds on the growth of Women’s game with tournaments like these by ICC and… pic.twitter.com/3yFGlLlt42— The CricHub (@thecrichub_live) September 12, 2026
Although Sana highlighted Pakistan’s failure to break Sri Lanka’s crucial partnership and the collapses after the 11th and 12th overs as the main reasons for their exit from the Women’s Asia Cup 2026, the Pakistan women’s cricketer repeatedly stressed that Samarawickrama and Kavisha deserved credit.
Harshitha scored 36 runs off 31 balls, while Dilhari made 33 off 33 balls. Although these scores may not look particularly impressive on paper, they came at a crucial stage of the match when every single run mattered for the team.
As Sana pointed out, this 67-run partnership was one of the main reasons Pakistan was knocked out of the Women’s Asia Cup.