Opener Fakhar Zaman overcame a bruised knee and a lean run to score 127 and lead Pakistan past Sri Lanka by three wickets in the final of the one-day international cricket tri-series on Saturday.
Fakhar’s entertaining hundred and Arafat Minhas’ robust 61 off 31 balls took Pakistan to a winning 331-7 in 48.3 overs as the Sri Lankan bowlers found it hard to control the wet ball because of dew.
Kamindu Mendis’ 131, his maiden ODI century, earlier propelled Sri Lanka to 325-8 while batting first for the first time in the tournament.
Pakistan lost Maaz Sadaqat for five and Babar Azam for a five-ball duck, much to the disappointment of the 31,265 home fans at Gaddafi Stadium, but Zaman revived the chase with 19-year-old Saad Baig, who made 74 off 75 balls. They put up a 149-run stand.
Sri Lanka’s Maheesh Theekshana, playing his first match in the tri-series, missed out on claiming Zaman on 69 and 106, when he couldn’t hold onto a return catch. Theekshana dropped Zaman again, a sitter on the boundary, after he reached his century off 84 balls.
Fakhar’s 99-ball knock finally ended in the 34th over when he was clean bowled by Dilshan Madushanka with Pakistan still 106 runs from victory. Madushanka took 3-63.
The wet ball did not help Sri Lanka as the young pair of Minhas and Hasan Nawaz (37 not out) kept their nerves before Asitha Fernando (2-72) added to the drama by bagging the wickets of Minhas and Faheem Ashraf off successive balls but it was not enough.