Pakistan players (AP Photo/Anjum Naveed) Pakistan secured victory in the T20 tri-series final by defeating Sri Lanka by six wickets on Saturday.Sri Lanka’s batting line-up collapsed dramatically, losing their last eight wickets for just 16 runs and being bowled out for 114 in 19.1 overs.
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Chasing the target successfully, Pakistan reached 118-4 with eight balls to spare. The opening pair of Saim Ayub and Sahibzada Farhan contributed 36 runs and 23 runs respectively, while Babar Azam remained unbeaten on 37 runs off 34 balls.Sri Lanka, despite winning their previous matches against Zimbabwe and Pakistan, struggled against Pakistan’s spin attack. Mohammad Nawaz took 3-17, Abrar Ahmed 2-18 and Ayub picked up 1-17.“It was a great performance from us. We did well in both ODIs and T20Is… we are almost ready for the World Cup. We still have six games before the World Cup to test things if we want to, but we are pretty much clear about our 15 players,” Pakistan captain Salman Ali Agha said.Batting first, Sri Lanka got off to a promising start and reached 81-1 at the halfway mark. However, they managed just one six against the spinners in the first 12 overs.Kamil Mishara took 59 runs off 47 balls to form a 64 run partnership with Kusal Mendis who scored 14.The Sri Lankan innings began to unravel when Babar took an impressive catch at long-on to remove Mendis off Nawaz’s bowling in the 11th over.Mishara, who reached his fifty in 37 balls, fell to another spectacular catch by Babar. Things got worse for Sri Lanka as they lost more wickets in quick succession.Ahmed struck twice in one over while Babar continued his brilliant play to catch Pavan Rathnayake. Kusal Perera’s poor form continued as he managed just 1 run.Nawaz emerged as the tournament’s leading wicket-taker with 10 wickets as he dismissed Janith Liyanage and Waninda Hasaranga. Shaheen Shah Afridi finished the innings with 3-18.“It’s important to deliver when the team requires you. I plan with the coaches and try to keep it simple because as a finger-spinner you don’t have many options, so I try to read the game and pass accordingly,” said Nawaz.During Pakistan’s chase, Ayub attacked Maheesh Theekshana in the power bowl and hit three boundaries in one. Farhan followed up with an aggressive bat against Hasarang.Despite Rathnayake dismissing Agha and Fakhar Zaman in successive overs, Babar kept his composure and secured victory with boundaries.
