Bowlers, Farhan make it two in two for Pakistan

A disciplined bowling performance followed by Sahibzada Farhan's fireworks helped Pakistan pick up their second win in as many matches in the ongoing tri-series. After getting bowled out for just 95 against Zimbabwe, Sri Lanka's batting unit came up with another lacklustre display that saw them finish with just 128/7. Farhan then hammered an unbeaten 80 off just 45 balls to keep the island nation winless in the competition after the first round.

On a used surface, Sri Lanka opted to bat first after making three changes. Pathum Nissanka hit the first ball of the match for a boundary and Kamil Mishara followed it up with a six in the next over. Mishara turned on the heat further in the third over with another six and a four before mistiming one against Faheem Ashraf to depart for a 12-ball 22. Kusal Mendis was the next to depart as he got run out in the final over of the powerplay.

From thereon, Pakistan slowly put themselves on top with regular strikes. Abrar Ahmed brought an end to Nissanka's scratchy stay and Mohammad Nawaz pegged Sri Lanka back further with a double strike by castling Kusal Perera and skipper Dasun Shanaka off successive deliveries. From 78/5, Sri Lanka just couldn't do much to post a competitive total. If not for Janith Liyanage's fighting unbeaten 41, the batting side would have come nowhere closer to the 120-run mark.

With the job half done already, Pakistan just needed a calm approach to get themselves over the line. Eshan Malinga helped their cause with an 18-run over in which Saim Ayub smashed three boundaries. While Ayub did slow down, Farhan went berserk at the other end pulling Dushmantha Chameera for a six as Pakistan raced to 42/0 after just four overs. Bringing himself into the attack inside the powerplay, Shanaka sprung a surprise with a timely strike as he got rid of Ayub but the wicket hardly deterred Farhan who continued to dominate after a brief lull during which Babar Azam bided his time, making just 5 off 14 deliveries.

Farhan broke the shackles by hammering Vijayakanth Viyaskanth for a six and a four and Babar finally pulled Shanaka for a six to get going as well. The chase appeared to be a mere formality at this point as Farhan continued to feast on the bowling attack, with two more sixes off Wanindu Hasaranga. Even though Chameera picked up a couple of late wickets in a single over, it did little to alter the final result as Farhan fittingly finished off the chase with another boundary.

Brief scores: Sri Lanka 128/7 in 20 overs (Janith Liyanage 41*; Mohammad Nawaz 3/16) lost to Pakistan 131/3 in 15.3 overs (Sahibzada Farhan 80*; Dushmantha Chameera 2/29) by 7 wickets