What a fantastic catch to end Shafique's inning

He is going to leave right now, but not before putting in a lifetime's worth of work. He witnessed Imam and Babar fall at the other end while producing a knock in just his ninth List A game that should seal Pakistan's victory. It may be Pakistan, but you never know.
Though it's unfair to Dushan Hemantha, who is legitimately on the squad, Sri Lanka has its own Gary Pratt moment. He makes a diving stunner at backward point to eliminate Shafique and revive the Sri Lankan defense of what would otherwise be a record-breaking chase

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The partnership - by Shashank Kishore

Abdullah Shafique did things his way up until the age of fifty.

Fakhar Zaman's lean run possibly tipped the scales in his favor a little earlier than anticipated. Whether Fakhar deserved to be fired this soon is up for debate. However, there is a case to be made for allowing a young player at his first World Cup at least one outing rather than throwing him into the fire in front of 120,000 spectators against India right away.

This is possibly what swung the game in Shafique's favor because there is nowhere to run when two batting pillars—Imam-ul-Haq and Babar Azam—are dismissed early in a chase of 345 runs. In addition to absorbing the pressure, Shafique had to keep the runs moving in order to avoid falling too far behind the requested pace.

Shafique played mostly textbook cricket, nothing flamboyant or particularly noteworthy, and took 58 balls to reach his half-century. However, that laid the groundwork for a knock that he would remember fondly. His approach to adjusting to the environment, Sri Lanka's spinners, and a fantastic middle- to late-overs acceleration that Pakistan has backed itself to carry off were among the distinguishing characteristics.