Pakistan look to tame resurgent Sri Lanka in tri-series finale

Pakistan will look to end their white-ball campaign at home on a high as they take on the resurgent Sri Lankan side in the final of the T20I tri-series at the Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium on Saturday.

The Men in Green have gone through a remarkable white-ball season at home, registering ODI and T20I series victories against South Africa and, later, also clinching the 50-over series against Sri Lanka.

Now, they will look to end the home season by also winning the tri-series. But it won’t be a runaway kind of stuff for Pakistan in the final, given the way Sri Lanka have peaked in their last two games.

In the first round, the Island nation had lost both its games, but in the next round, they not only defeated Zimbabwe but also defeated Pakistan in a nail-biting contest on November 27.

Momentum with Sri Lanka

In their last two games, the Dashun Shanka-led team have played a good brand of cricket with their key players stepping at the right moment.

Against Zimbabwe, the spin duo of Maheesh Theekshana and Wanindu Hasaranga were excellent with the ball, taking two wickets apiece at an economy of under six runs per over. Whereas their opener Pathum Nissanka also scored an outstanding 98 not out off 58 balls to help his team cruise to a one-sided victory.

However, it was the sensational display against Pakistan that now makes the Saturday-scheduled finale much more interesting. Batting first, they posted a massive 184-run total with Kamil Mishra scoring 76 off 48 balls and wicketkeeper-batter Kusal Mendis contributing with a 23-ball 40.

But it was the exceptional pace bowling display from their spearhead Dushmantha Chameera, who was not only exceptional early in the innings, but also delivered an unbelievable last over, defending 10 runs with pinpoint yorkers, helping Sri Lanka stun Pakistan by six runs. The right arm pacer ended with figures of 4-20 in four overs.

Will Pakistan hold their nerves?

Though the green shirts have played well this home season, their inability to chase down 10 runs in the last over against Sri Lanka on Thursday once again raises questions about their batting line’s ability to win matches under pressure.

Although our bowling line has managed to deliver, it’s the batters like Babar Azam, Saim Ayub, Fakhar Zaman and Usman Khan who will need to step up on the big game.

In Thursday’s game, Babar Azam got out for a duck, Fakhar Zaman hasn’t been in the run in the last three innings, while Usman Khan got some runs with a 23-ball 33, but got out at the crucial juncture.

What was surprising was the inability of our batters Mohammad Nawaz and Faheem Ashraf as they failed to chase down 10 runs against Chameera’s amazing death bowling, given the fact they almost had the game in their grasp after being reduced to 43-4 with skipper Salman Agha scoring a 63 not out off 44 balls.

Likely IXs

Pakistan: Fakhar Zaman, Saim Ayub, Babar Azam, Usman Khan (wk), Salman Agha (c), Mohammad Nawaz, Faheem Ashraf, Mohammad Wasim, Salman Mirza, Abrar Ahmed, Sahibzada Farhan

Sri Lanka: Pathum Nissanka, Kamil Mishara, Kusal Mendis(w), Kusal Perera, Janith Liyanage, Dasun Shanaka(c), Pavan Rathnayake, Wanindu Hasaranga, Dushmantha Chameera, Maheesh Theekshana and Eshan Malinga.