rawalpindi
\nIn-form Pakistan will be desperately looking to complete a clean sweep when they face Sri Lanka in the third and final T20I at the Pindi Cricket Stadium in Rawalpindi on Tuesday.
\nThe match will start at 6pm PST.
\nPakistan are in fine form, having won the first two matches convincingly. The hosts defeated the visitors by four wickets in the opening game before inflicting a comprehensive 82-run defeat on them in the second match on Sunday.
\nPakistan have shown strength with both bat and ball, and the Green-shirts will be eager to maintain their momentum in the final game under captain Sahibzada Farhan, who has been in sublime touch.
\nPakistan\u2019s top order has performed well in both matches.
\nIn the opening game, the middle order was tested, but a few unnecessary dismissals raised eyebrows as the hosts appeared well placed to chase down a target of 183. However, Pakistan completely outclassed Sri Lanka in the second match, restricting them to 133-7 while defending a formidable total of 216.
\nThe 215-3 was Pakistan\u2019s highest total at home and the second highest overall. The Green-shirts had amassed 232-6 against England in Nottingham on July 16, 2021, which is their record score.
\nSahibzada Farhan and Maaz Sadaqat have been outstanding with the bat. The pair have built valuable partnerships for the second wicket in both matches and scored back-to-back half-centuries.
\nFarhan scored 89 and 73, while Maaz smashed 50 and 96, breathing new life into Pakistan\u2019s top order.
\nMaaz, who also impressed in the Caribbean Premier League (CPL), punished the Sri Lankan bowlers with aggressive stroke-play, making it difficult for them to contain him.
\nHe played his natural game, and the freedom with which he batted reflected the confidence the team management has placed in the young Peshawar batsman.
\nFakhar Zaman has been opening alongside Farhan. Although he has made promising starts, he has failed to bat deep into the innings. Known for his ability to score big, Fakhar has been unable to convert his starts into substantial scores. He will need to show greater application, which could further strengthen Pakistan\u2019s batting line-up.
\nHasan Nawaz performed well on Sunday, while it remains to be seen how Saim Ayub and Khawaja Nafay fare when given adequate opportunities. Khawaja scored the winning runs in Pakistan\u2019s first T20I victory but has yet to be tested under significant pressure.
\nIn the bowling department, Imran Randhawa has been particularly impressive. He consistently hits the right areas and has looked effective with the new ball. The all-rounder has taken five wickets in two matches, both of which were his T20I debut appearances.
\n\u201cI bowled according to plan and achieved success,\u201d Imran told reporters after Pakistan\u2019s one-sided victory on Sunday.
\nExperienced leg-spinner Shadab Khan, however, has been unimpressive so far, raising questions about his role in the team.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
rawalpindi In-form Pakistan will be desperately looking to complete a clean sweep when they face Sri Lanka in the third and final T20I at the Pindi Cricket Stadium in Rawalpindi on Tuesday. The match will start at 6pm PST. Pakistan are in fine form, having won the first two matches convincingly. The hosts defeated the …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":104233,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-104218","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/104218","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=104218"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/104218\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":104239,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/104218\/revisions\/104239"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/104233"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=104218"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=104218"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=104218"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}