Charith Asalanka scored a well composed unbeaten 49 as Sri Lanka booked their spot in the final by defeating Pakistan by 2 wickets in a thriller at R. Premadasa Stadium, Colombo, on Thursday.
After winning the toss and electing to bat first, Pramod Madushan drew first blood by cleaning up the out of form Fakhar Zaman for 4.
The pair of Abdullah Shafique along with skipper Babar Azam added 64 runs for the second wicket stand before the latter was stumped by wicket keeper Kusal Perera off Dunith Wellalage for 29.
Shafique reached his maiden ODI fifty, but fell top-edging a pull off Matheesha Pathirana to Pramod Madushan at deep square leg. The Men in Green lost couple of quick wickets as they lost half their side for 130.
The match was reduced to 42 overs a side due to rain delay.
After the break, Mohammad Rizwan along with Iftikhar Ahmed featured in a valuable 108 run stand for the sixth wicket to take Pakistan to 252/7 in their 42 overs.
In response, Kusal Perera who came in place of Dimuth Karunaratne, got Sri Lanka a positive start but was run out by a brilliant piece of fielding by Shadab Khan for 17.
The pair of Pathum Nissanka along with Kusal Mendis added 50 runs for the second wicket stand before the former was caught and bowled by Shadab for 29.
Mendis featured in yet another crucial 100 run stand for the third wicket alongside Sadeera Samarawickrama before the latter perished to Iftikhar Ahmed for 48.
Mendis then fell to a magnificent diving catch at short extra cover by Mohammad Haris for 91 Skipper Dasun Shanaka fell shortly while attempting a big hit.
Shaheen Shah Afridi brought Pakistan back into the contest with wickets of Dhanjaya de Silva and Dunith Wellalage for a first ball duck as Sri Lanka slumped to 243/7.
Needing six off the final two balls, Asalanka edged a boundary to third man against debutant fast bowler Zaman Khan before turning the pacer to square leg for two runs to take Sri Lanka to their 11th Asia Cup final.
They will now face India in the final on Sunday, 17 September.
Sri Lanka 252 for 8 (Mendis 91, Asalanka 49*, Ifthikar 3-50) beat Pakistan 252 for 7 (Rizwan 86*, Shafique 52, Pathirana 3-65) by two wickets via DLS method