Sri Lanka won the toss and, unsurprisingly, chose to bat first. Pakistan made two changes in the squad, Iftikhar and Faheem made way for Fakhar Zaman and Wahab Riaz.
The Sri Lankan opener, Danushka Gunathilaka, couldn't last long as he edged behind in the quest of a cut shot against Imad Wasim. In the powerplay, Sri Lanka's running between the wickets was awful, giving Pakistan many chances but, apart from Avishka Fernando's dismissal, they couldn't cash much with the opportunities.
Sri Lanka found another hero in this series where their team is filled with new and young faces. This time, it was the amazing left-hander, Bhanuka Rajapaksa, who played like he had no pressure at all.
He took on all the bowlers and deposited them over the boundary. Wahab Riaz tried to fight him with the pace and he replied by coming out of the crease and caressing a four towards the offside. Then, he slog-swept Imad with a cracking sound. Pakistan tried to control him with legspin and he welcomed Shadab with two sixes.
Amir was brought to control Rajapaksa with his variations, and the batsman charged him and hit him for six. Pace couldn't get the better of him and Husnain, too, was treated the same way: two sixes in two balls.
Shehan Jayasuria helped him in the middle phase but he seemed to be having no pressure at all. Some late order flourish from Shanaka helped Sri Lanka to post a whooping total of 182 considering run chases in Lahore.
In reply, Pakistan's T20 openers joined again but Fakhar gifted his wicket by edging a fuller delivery on to his stumps trying to scoop it over the third man.
The pressure kept mounting which compelled a bad shot from Babar Azam, only to see his stumps dusturbed. Ahmed Shehzad continued with his sedentary approach and got out searching for a consecutive six down the ground.
In the meantime, Sarfraz who has coped a lot of criticism (deservedly) for his batting performances was looking another thing. It was like as someone's brought back the Sarfraz of the past: fearless.
But Wanindu Hasaranga, spun a web. His gleefully beautiful wrong'uns were unreadable by Pakistani batsmen. Umar Akmal tried cutting him first ball, not reading that it was a wrong'un, got his 2nd consecutive duck of the series. Sarfraz got a beaut of a google from the young leggie and it went through him.
From then on, it was all difficult for Pakistan with the runrate touching 12 with 10 overs remaining. Imad, fully aware of his capabilities, tried his best to score at the said required rate while Asif Ali was struggling on the on the other end.
He moved in the crease and uswd these tactics to hit boundaries to the legside. Trying to repeat the same shot, he found himself in front of the stumps and missing the ball.
Then wickets fell, Asif's painful innings come to an end in similar fashion. The tailenders soon joined the dugout.
Meanwhile it's obvious to say that Pakistan's selection was very dodgy, we can't take credit from the young Sri Lankan side which showed that they have what it takes to be a contender for a good T20 team.
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