A fine show by bowlers, backed well by batters Saim Ayub and Babar Azam, steered Pakistan to a comfortable six-wicket victory against Sri Lanka in the tri-nation series final at the Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium on Saturday.
Chasing a modest 115 for victory, the hosts came home in 18.4 overs thanks to Saim (36 off 33 balls).
Babar (37 not out off 34) played an exquisite cut shot through point off pacer Dushmantha Chameera for a boundary to complete a well-deserved victory.
Mohammad Nawaz won the Player of the Match, as well as Player of the Series.
“To deliver when the team requires you is very important,” he said in the post-match presentation.
“I plan with the coaches and try to keep it simple because as a fingerspinner, you don’t have many options. So I try to read the game and bowl accordingly.
Speaking on his batting, he said: “I try to see what the situations demands: to build a partnership or attack. So I try to play accordingly.“
Skipper Salman Agha was pleased with his side’s performance ahead of the World Cup.
“It was a great performance from us. This has been very good two months for us, against South Africa and Sri Lanka. We have been doing well in both ODIs and T20Is,” he said after the match.
“Before going to the World Cup, you want your 15 ready. If anything happens to your main players, you want to have the back-up ready. So we are giving chances to everyone.
“I think we are pretty much ready for the World Cup. We still have six games before the World Cup to try out things if we want but think we are pretty much clear on our 15 players.”
Sri Lanka skipper Dasun Shanaka said his side needed to fine-tune their game ahead of the next series.
“We expected the wicket to play better than this but they also bowled well in the middle overs. We couldn’t have taken some chances: right-handers getting out to the left-arm spinner and left-hander to offspinner,” he said after the match.
“We need to fine-tune our game ahead of the next series. Mishara, Nissanka, Kusal Mendis, Chameera, Maheesh, Hasaranga were the positives. And we showed good intent int he field.“
Earlier, Pakistan bowlers made a spectacular comeback to dismiss Sri Lanka for a paltry 114.
After being sent in to bat, Shanaka’s side dominated the proceedings in the first half of their innings, reaching a solid 81-1 in 10 overs before they faced a dramatic collapse.
Spinners Mohammad Nawaz (3-17), Abrar Ahmed (2-18) and Saim Ayub Ayub (1-17) checked the Sri Lankan progress while fast bowler Shaheen Shah Afridi (3-18 off three overs) mopped up the tail.
The Sri Lankans were eventually dismissed in 19.1 overs when pacer Salman Mirza cleaned up Dushmantha Chameera.
TEAMS
Pakistan: Sahibzada Farhan, Saim Ayub, Babar Azam, Salman Agha (C), Fakhar Zaman, Usman Khan (wk), Mohammad Nawaz, Faheem Ashraf, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Salman Mirza, Abrar Ahmed
Sri Lanka: Pathum Nissanka, Kamil Mishara, Kusal Mendis (wk), Kusal Perera, Janith Liyanage, Dasun Shanaka (C), Pavan Rathnayake, Wanindu Hasaranga, Dushmantha Chameera, Maheesh Theekshana, Eshan Malinga
