Sahibzada Farhan could not have scripted a better start to his captaincy tenure. Leading Pakistan for the first time in a bilateral T20I, Farhan smashed 89 off 53 balls to steer the hosts to a four-wicket win over Sri Lanka in the series-opening T20I at Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium on Friday, chasing down a target of 183 with seven balls to spare.
Sri Lanka, invited to bat first after winning the toss, posted 182 for 8 in their 20 overs, built almost entirely around opener Lahiru Udara’s 91 off 55 balls, which included 11 fours and a six. No other Sri Lankan batter passed 23, with Kamindu Mendis (23 off 18) and Dasun Shanaka (18 off 15, with two sixes) the only other batters to offer resistance. Pakistan debutant pacer Mohammad Imran impressed on his first international outing, conceding just 21 runs in his four overs for two wickets, while Naseem Shah was the pick of the bowlers with 3 for 36.
In reply, Pakistan lost opener Saim Ayub early inside the powerplay, but Farhan and Maaz Sadaqat put together a rapid 92-run stand for the second wicket off just 52 balls to put the chase firmly back on track. Sadaqat made a brisk 50 off 29 balls, striking three sixes, before he was trapped lbw by Maheesh Theekshana with Pakistan needing 37 off 37 balls. Farhan, who was later named Player of the Match for his knock laced with 10 fours and 4 sixes, kept the required rate in check almost single-handedly until he fell in the penultimate over. Wicketkeeper-batter Khawaja Mohammad Nafay then finished the job in style, hitting Eshan Malinga for six in the 19th over to seal the win with his unbeaten 12.
| Match Summary | Details |
|---|---|
| Venue | Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium |
| Sri Lanka | 182/8 in 20 overs (Udara 91, Kamindu Mendis 23; Naseem Shah 3/36, M. Imran 2/21) |
| Pakistan | 187/6 in 18.5 overs (Farhan 89, Sadaqat 50; Theekshana 2/36, Malinga 2/33) |
| Result | Pakistan won by 4 wickets (7 balls remaining) |
| Player of the Match | Sahibzada Farhan |
| Series | Pakistan lead the three-match series 1-0 |
Sri Lanka captain Kusal Mendis, whose own innings lasted just two balls before he was dismissed in the first over, conceded afterwards that his side had left runs out on the field on a good Rawalpindi surface.
“We needed to score 200+ on this pitch,” Kusal Mendis said after the match, adding that Sri Lanka were probably 20 to 30 runs short of a competitive total.
The win comes less than a week after Pakistan handed Farhan the T20I captaincy, and marks a strong opening statement in that role — a story PakDaily covered in detail here when the appointment was first announced. The two sides now move straight into the second T20I at the same venue on Sunday, October 11, with the toss scheduled for 5:30pm PKT, before the series concludes in Rawalpindi on October 13.
Our Opinion
A winning start with the bat is exactly the kind of statement a new captain needs, and Farhan’s innings will do plenty to settle any early nerves about handing him the role. But one franchise-style chase against an under-strength Sri Lankan attack is a thin sample size; the real test of this captaincy will come once Pakistan’s batting is again under pressure on a tricky surface or chasing a genuinely stiff target. The bigger positive for the team management may actually be Mohammad Imran’s composed four overs on debut, since depth in the pace attack has been Pakistan’s recurring worry heading into a packed home season that still has two more T20Is, a seven-match ODI tri-series, and two Tests to come.
