Pakistan clinched the ODI tri-series title with a nerve-shredding three-wicket win over Sri Lanka in the final at Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore, on Saturday, chasing down 326 with nine balls to spare. Fakhar Zaman’s 127 off 99 balls earned him the Player of the Match award, but it was a late onslaught from Arafat Minhas that pulled the chase back from the brink after Sri Lanka had clawed their way into a strong position in the closing overs.
| Team | Score | Result |
|---|---|---|
| Sri Lanka | 325/8 (50 overs) | Pakistan won by 3 wickets |
| Pakistan | 331/7 (48.3 overs) |
Pakistan captain Shaheen Shah Afridi won the toss and chose to field first, and Sri Lanka made the most of it. Kamindu Mendis anchored the innings with 131 off 128 balls, while Pavan Rathnayake chipped in with a brisk 77 off 65. The two sides had met four days earlier in the group stage, when Sri Lanka bowled Pakistan out for just 110 to set up Saturday’s title decider, and the tourists looked set to carry that momentum through. An opening stand of 87 took Sri Lanka to a solid platform before Salman Agha broke through in the 18th over, and the innings pushed on to 238/2 at the 40-over mark. But Pakistan’s bowlers clawed back hard in the death overs, with Sri Lanka losing six wickets in the final ten to be restricted to 325/8 rather than a total closer to 350.
Dilshan Madushanka struck twice with the new ball in Pakistan’s reply, removing Maaz Sadaqat cheaply and trapping Babar Azam for a five-ball duck inside the powerplay, leaving the hosts 50/2 after ten overs. Fakhar Zaman held firm at one end, reaching fifty at a watchful pace before accelerating, while Saad Baig compiled a composed 74 off 75 balls — his maiden ODI half-century — to rebuild the innings. Pakistan were 105/2 after 20 overs, still needing around 221 from the remaining 30, and the equation stayed tight deep into the chase: 46 runs were needed off the last 30 balls at the start of the 44th over, and 31 off 24 balls three overs later.
That is when Minhas, who had already picked up two wickets with the ball earlier in the match, took the game away from Sri Lanka. He struck four sixes across the 45th to 47th overs to reach his second ODI half-century and leave the bowlers with too little to defend. Asitha Fernando hit back with two wickets in the 47th over, but by then the target had shrunk to a formality, and Shaheen Afridi finished the match in style with a six off Madushanka in the 48th over to seal the title. Madushanka was the pick of the Sri Lankan bowlers with 3/63, while Fernando took 2/72; for Pakistan, Shaheen Afridi and Haris Rauf both finished with 2/50 and 2/60 respectively.
The turning points of a tightly fought final:
- Pakistan won the toss and chose to field, backing their bowlers to defend a par score under lights.
- Sri Lanka’s middle order fell away in the last ten overs, shedding six wickets after cruising at 238/2.
- Madushanka’s early double strike, including Babar Azam’s duck, put Pakistan under pressure inside the powerplay.
- Saad Baig’s maiden ODI fifty alongside Fakhar Zaman steadied the innings through the middle overs.
- Arafat Minhas’s four sixes in three overs turned a tense equation into a comfortable finish.
- Shaheen Afridi’s closing six capped the chase and the tri-series title.
Our Opinion
What should encourage Pakistan more than the trophy itself is how the chase was won — Babar Azam fell for a duck inside the powerplay and the top order wobbled early, yet Saad Baig’s calm fifty and Minhas’s late hitting meant the innings never needed rescuing by a single star batter; that kind of depth, where a lower-order all-rounder can decide a final with the bat, is exactly what a top-heavy batting line-up has lacked in previous tight chases. The real test will be whether the team management backs players like Minhas and Saad Baig with a settled run in the XI, rather than treating Saturday’s final as a one-off before reverting to the usual top order once the senior batters return to form.
