Because of dew, the Sri Lanka bowlers found it hard to control the wet ball. Opener Fakhar Zaman overcame a bruised knee and a lean run to score 127 and lead Pakistan past Sri Lanka by three wickets in the final of the one-day international cricket tri-series on Saturday. Zaman’s entertaining 12th ODI hundred and man-of-the-series Arafat Minhas’ robust 61 off 31 balls took Pakistan to a winning 331-7 in 48.3 overs. Kamindu Mendis’ 131, his maiden ODI century, earlier propelled Sri Lanka to 325-8 while batting first for the first time in the tournament.
Opener Fakhar Zaman overcame a bruised knee and a lean run to score 127 and lead Pakistan past Sri Lanka by three wickets in the final of the one-day international cricket tri-series on Saturday
“There was a collapse again (in batting) but Fakhar played a brilliant knock. I always say Fakhar scores in big games … Saad, Arafat, and Hasan Nawaz have all made crucial contributions which is good for Pakistan cricket. Afridi trapped Mendis lbw off a fuller delivery in the 42nd over. Pakistan, without an unwell Shadab Khan, pulled Sri Lanka back in the death overs through the pace bowlers. “Our bowling unit did well in the powerplay (but) our mistakes in the fielding cost us which we need to work on moving forward. There are a lot of positives to take from this series … (and) there is room for improvement.”
His 128-ball knock featured 12 fours and two sixes. He consistently rotated the strike with Rathnayake, who was denied his third century in the tournament when he holed out to long-on in the 45th after scoring 77 off 65 balls. Sri Lanka scored 87-6 in the final 10 overs as Afridi, Naseem Shah and Haris Rauf all bagged two wickets each.
“We made a great comeback in the bowling in the last 10 overs,” Afridi said. “We were short by 25-30 runs,” Sri Lanka captain Kusal Mendis said.
