Pakistan beat Sri Lanka by three wickets in the final of the one-day tri-series at the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore on Saturday night, chasing 326 with nine balls to spare after Fakhar Zaman made 127 off 99 balls, AP reported.
Four days earlier, on the same ground, Sri Lanka had bowled Pakistan out for 110 to reach this final. This time the chase came under lights with dew on the ball, and Sri Lanka’s 325 for 8 was not enough.
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Key points
- Pakistan chased 326 to beat Sri Lanka by three wickets with nine balls to spare in Lahore
- Fakhar Zaman made 127 off 99 balls after being dropped three times; Arafat Minhas hit 61 off 31
- Kamindu Mendis’s 131, his first ODI hundred, carried Sri Lanka to 325 for 8
Fakhar rode his luck, then Minhas finished the job
Pakistan were 14 for 2 almost at once. Dilshan Madushanka had Maaz Sadaqat for 5 and Babar Azam for a five-ball duck.
Fakhar came into the final with 31 runs from his previous four innings, according to AP, and had hurt his right knee while fielding. Maheesh Theekshana dropped him on 69 and again on 106, and he was put down once more after reaching his hundred. With Saad Baig, who made 74 off 75 balls, he added 149 for the third wicket.
Madushanka bowled Fakhar in the 34th over with the score on 223 for 4 and Pakistan still more than 100 short. Arafat Minhas changed the arithmetic quickly: 61 off 31 balls, with a 28-ball fifty. Asitha Fernando removed Minhas and Faheem Ashraf with successive balls at the very end, but Hasan Nawaz was 37 not out when Pakistan got home in the 49th over.
Mendis’s first ODI hundred went to waste
Kamindu Mendis made 131, his maiden century in the format, and Sri Lanka finished on 325 for 8. Madushanka, with 3 for 63, and Fernando, 2 for 72, were their best bowlers on a night when the wet ball was hard to grip.
Sri Lanka had been the series’ best chasing side. They made 430 to beat England in Rawalpindi on 22 October, after Harry Brook’s 202, the second-highest successful chase in ODI history. In Lahore they batted first and found out how hard defending is once the dew comes down.
What it means for Pakistan
It is Fakhar’s second hundred in a final. The first, 114 against India in the 2017 Champions Trophy final at The Oval, is still the innings most Pakistan fans remember him for. This one came at the ground where he plays his home PSL cricket for Lahore Qalandars.
England left the series after losing three of their four games. For Pakistan, a home trophy and a top three that clicked in the final at last are a useful marker on the road to the 2027 ODI World Cup.
Market watch
- Dew decided this final. In day-night games at Lahore, the side batting second has the easier conditions, and 325 was not a safe total.
- Two totals above 320 were chased in this series: 430 in Rawalpindi and 326 here. Totals lines in Pakistan ODIs need to sit high.
- Madushanka took 5 for 34 and 3 for 63 at this ground in four days. He is the bowler to watch in the first ten overs against Pakistan’s top order.
- Fakhar went from 31 runs in four innings to 127. Top-batter prices follow recent scores, and in his case they can mislead. Live movements are in our in-play cricket odds.
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Top image: Photo: Younisjunejo / CC BY-SA 4.0 via Wikimedia Commons
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Wendy Prinsloo
Wendy is an iGaming journalist and sports betting writer who covers cricket news, betting platforms, odds, and online casinos.
She writes about the latest developments in the cricket industry and helps readers stay updated while understanding how betting works.
