Pakistan won the ODI tri-series final in Lahore on Saturday night, chasing 326 to beat Sri Lanka by three wickets with nine balls to spare at a roaring Gaddafi Stadium. Fakhar Zaman, playing through a bruised knee, made 127 off 99 balls to set up the chase, and Arafat Minhas smashed 61 off 31 at the death after Kamindu Mendis had scored a maiden ODI century for Sri Lanka. It finished the story our final preview had set up: the same two teams, the same ground, and a home crowd hoping for a trophy.
ODI tri-series final: the scorecard
- Sri Lanka: 325 for 8 in 50 overs (Kamindu Mendis 131, Pavan Rathnayake 77; Salman Ali Agha 2 for 44, Shaheen Shah Afridi 2 for 50)
- Pakistan: 331 for 7 in 48.3 overs (Fakhar Zaman 127, Saad Baig 74, Arafat Minhas 61; Dilshan Madushanka 3 for 63)
- Result: Pakistan won by 3 wickets with 9 balls remaining
- Player of the match: Fakhar Zaman
Photo: Younisjunejo via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
Mendis sets the stage
Pakistan won the toss and fielded, and for much of the afternoon the decision looked questionable. Kamindu Mendis played the innings of his life, compiling 131 from 128 balls, with 12 fours and two sixes, for his first ODI hundred and his highest score for Sri Lanka, and shared a 146-run third-wicket partnership with Pavan Rathnayake, whose fluent 77 kept Sri Lanka ahead of the game. At 325 for 8, Sri Lanka had the fifth highest total they have ever made against Pakistan, and a score that wins most finals. The late overs, though, kept Pakistan in it: Salman Ali Agha’s two wickets and Shaheen Shah Afridi’s 2 for 50 curbed a push toward 350, a comeback with the ball that captain Shaheen later credited as the platform for everything that followed.
Fakhar Zaman’s hundred turns the final
The chase began badly. Pakistan slipped to 14 for 2, and the trophy looked to be travelling. Fakhar Zaman and wicketkeeper Saad Baig rebuilt with a third-wicket partnership of 149 that changed the match completely. Fakhar’s story gave the innings its force: he had scored only 31 runs in his previous four matches and was carrying a bruised knee, yet after a careful start, reaching fifty from 52 balls, he tore into the bowling, adding 75 from his last 40 deliveries. His hundred, reached from 84 balls and finished at 127 with 11 fours and six sixes, was his 12th in ODIs and his first against Sri Lanka. Baig’s 74 from 75 balls was the perfect partner innings, and he was named among the players praised by PCB Chairman Mohsin Naqvi after the match.
Minhas and Nawaz finish the job
Finals are rarely finished by the men who start them. When the chase tightened, Arafat Minhas, batting at number seven, produced a searing 61 off 31 balls, and with Hasan Nawaz, who stayed unbeaten on 37, he added 94 for the sixth wicket to break Sri Lanka’s resistance. Madushanka’s three wickets, with two more for Asitha Fernando, kept the contest alive into the final overs, and the Sri Lankan attack struggled to grip a wet ball as dew settled, but Pakistan reached 331 for 7 in the 49th over, captain Shaheen Afridi wrapping up the chase with a six. Reports noted the chase as the joint highest successful run chase in an ODI final, and Pakistan’s sixth highest successful chase in all ODIs.
From 110 all out to a trophy
The arc of the week made the win sweeter. In the league match at this same ground, Sri Lanka had bowled Pakistan out for 110, a collapse that dominated the build-up to the final and framed our preview of the match. To return days later, concede 325, lose two early wickets and still chase the target down is the kind of turnaround that builds a side’s belief. The ICC framed the win as a set of positives on the road to next year’s Men’s Cricket World Cup, and the contributions came from exactly the blend a World Cup squad needs: a senior opener’s career-grade hundred, a young wicketkeeper’s fifty in a final, and a young all-rounder’s fearless finish. Lahore’s crowd, which had watched the league collapse, got its answer under lights.
The trophy caps a busy and successful weekend for Pakistani cricket, with the Under-19 side preparing to defend its Asia Cup title in Oman, as our U19 Asia Cup preview describes. Follow the fallout from the ODI tri-series final and everything that comes next on our Pakistan Sports Good News page.
Sources
- Minhas’ match-turning 61, Fakhar 127 take Pakistan to tri-series title, ESPNcricinfo
- Fakhar Zaman century propels hosts to three-wicket win in tri-series final, Sky Sports
- Pakistan clinch tri-series with big chase against Sri Lanka, ICC
- Shaheen credits late bowling comeback, Fakhar for ODI tri-series triumph, Geo Super
- Photo: Sky Sports
Umar is an engineer by profession and a passionate writer by passion. He has a deep interest in sharing good news related to Pakistan and has been working hard to promote the positive image of his homeland. Umar has written numerous articles on various topics related to Pakistan, such as technology, sports, culture, and economy.