A fluent half-century from skipper Sahibzada Farhan helped Pakistan set a fighting target for Sri Lanka in third and last T20I at Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium on Tuesday.
Put into bat first, the home side accumulated 168-8 in their 20 overs, courtesy of a gutsy knock by their captain Farhan.
The Green Shirts got off to a spirited start to their innings as their opening pair of Fakhar Zaman and Farhan, put together 34 runs in just three overs.
But Eshan Malinga struck twice, dismissing Fakhar (12) and in-form Maaz Sadaqat (0) in the fourth over to halt Pakistan’s flamboyant start.
Following the back-to-back dismissals, Hasan Nawaz joined skipper Farhan in the middle, and the duo batted cautiously to add 33 runs to the home side’s total until the former fell victim to Vijayakanth Viyaskanth in the ninth over after scoring a 17-ball 16.
Pakistan then suffered another setback in the subsequent over as experienced Sri Lanka all-rounder Dasun Shanaka sent back their wicketkeeper batter Khawaja Nafay for just three.
Shanaka struck twice more in his next two overs, dismissing all-rounder Mohammad Imran (6) and Abdul Samad (15), and reduced Pakistan to 102-6.
Following the middle-order collapse, Farhan joined forces with emerging all-rounder Arafat Minhas, and the duo bolstered Pakistan’s total at the backend with a blistering 66-run partnership, which culminated with the captain’s dismissal off Nuwan Thushara on the penultimate delivery of the innings.
Farhan top-scored for Pakistan with a quickfire 76 off 47 deliveries, studded with seven fours and three sixes.
Thushara also struck on the final delivery, cleaning up No.9 Razaullah (0) with a full-pitched delivery, to curtail the home side below the 170-run mark.
Minhas, meanwhile, returned after scoring an unbeaten 34 off 20 deliveries, laced with two sixes and as many fours.
Shanaka was the standout bowler for Sri Lanka as he picked up three wickets for just 21 runs in her four overs, followed by Malinga and Thushara with two each, while Viyaskanth made one scalp.
