After registering their first win of the tour, Sri Lanka will be quietly confident when the two teams meet again in the second of the three-match T20I series at Lahore’s Gaddafi stadium.
Danushka Gunathalika scored a well-crafted 57 to guide Sri Lanka to 165/5 in 20 overs, before the bowlers put on a complete performance to bundle out Sri Lanka for 101 in the 18th over to register an emphatic 64-run win. They will now look to carry the same intensity going forward to seal the series in the second game.
Pakistan did manage to halt Sri Lanka’s progress in the final overs, thanks to a hat-trick from 19-year-old Mohammad Hansnain, but it was their batting effort that cost them the game. Veterans Ahmed Shehzad and Umar Akmal, each making their international comebacks, failed to leave a mark, with the latter registering a first-ball duck.
The hosts will need a strong performance from their experienced top four, led by the dynamic Babar Azam, the top ranked batsman in MRF Tyres ICC T20I rankings, to stage a comeback and set up the final game as a series decider on Wednesday, 9 October.
Remember the last time:
Powered by Danushka Gunathalika and nurtured by Avishka Fernando and Bhanuka Rajapaksha, Sri lanka raced to 135/2 in the 16th over after being put in to bat by the hosts. Mohammad Hansnain’s hat-trick restricted the visitors to 165/7 to revive hopes for Pakistan, but the home team never really recovered after being reduced to 13/2 in the second over of the chase. Nuwan Pradeep, Isuru Udana and Wanindu Hasaranga shared eight wickets between them as Sri Lanka wrapped up a comfortable 64-run win.Y
