Sri Lanka Bowled Out for 128 as Pakistan Clinch Comfortable T20I Victory
SL vs Pak 1st T20I Highlights: Sahibzada Farhan's blistering half-century and Abrar Mirza's superb bowling helped Pakistan secure a six-wicket win over Sri Lanka in the first match of the three-match T20I series.
Pakistan started the series with a six-wicket win over Sri Lanka, leading 1-0 in the three-match T20 series, having bowled out the hosts for 128 runs after winning the toss to opt to bowl first, which was a result of extreme discipline in the Pakistani bowling effort. Sahibzada Farhan, an opener for Pakistan, got his team over the target easily with his half-century of 51 runs off just 36 balls to guide his team to victory.
Sri Lanka's batting line-up seemed to be wobbly from the very outset, with wickets being lost at regular intervals. The first one to fall was Kamil Mishara, who lost his wicket to Salman Mirza with no runs on the board. Pathum Nissanka also got out for 12 runs. The arrival of the spinners further slowed the run-scoring. Shadab Khan dismissed Kusal Mendis (14) and Dhananjaya de Silva (10) in the same over. Asalanka raised some hope with a six, but he too was dismissed by Abrar Ahmed for 18.
Sri Lanka's lone scorer, Janith Liyanage, scored the highest score of 40 runs from 31 balls. He shared small partnerships with Wanindu Hasaranga (18) and captain Dasun Shanaka (12), but neither could add a substantial score. For Pakistan, Abrar took 3 wickets for 25 runs, while Salman Mirza took 3 wickets for 28 runs. Sri Lanka was all out for 128 runs in 19.2 overs.
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Chasing a target of just 129 runs, Pakistan's openers made a strong start and relieved the pressure on the scoreboard. Sahibzada and Saim Ayub made a quick partnership of 55 runs in the first six overs. Mahesh Theekshana struck first, dismissing Ayub for 24 runs, leaving the score at 59. Sri Lanka tried to make a comeback in the match when Hasaranga dismissed Salman Agha for 16 runs, and Dushmantha Chameera dismissed the dangerous Farhan soon after his half-century.
Dhananjaya de Silva added to the excitement by stumping Fakhar Zaman for 10 runs. However, by then, Pakistan's score had reached 106 for 4. Shadab and Usman Khan then calmly scored the remaining runs in 16.4 overs to give Pakistan a comfortable victory. With this win, Sri Lanka took a 1-0 lead in the series.
