Pakistan have posted 212 runs for the loss of eight wickets in their 20 overs in the must-win clash against Sri Lanka after being invited to bat first in Pallekele. The men in green must win by a margin of 65 or more runs to knock New Zealand out and qualify for the semifinals of the T20 World Cup. Accordingly, they must restrict Sri Lanka to 147 runs or below to make it to the knockouts of the mega event.
Sahibzada Farhan was the star for Pakistan with the bat, notching up a 59-ball century, his second in this edition of the T20 World Cup. He also became the first to do so in the history of the mega event, having earlier smashed a ton against Namibia in the group stage. Fakhar Zaman also played a massive part with the bat, scoring 84 runs off just 42 balls as he stitched a 176-run opening stand with Farhan to create history.
As far as Sri Lanka are concerned, they were listless with their bowling and were extremely poor in the field as there was no effort whatsoever from them. They didn’t look up for the game, having already been knocked out of the tournament.
Pakistan collapse and miss chance to post 225 runs
Nevertheless, they made a comeback at the fag end of the innings as Pakistan stunningly collapsed after the 176-run opening stand. Pakistan lost eight wickets for 36 runs in 25 balls and they also lost a massive opportunity to score more than 225 runs with the bat.
The collapse has left their bowlers to defend only 148 runs as Sri Lanka will need to score only 147 runs to knock Pakistan out of the tournament. New Zealand would be watching keenly at the moment as they will be nervous as well and backing Sri Lanka’s batters on a flat pitch in Pallekele. The collapse may cost Pakistan but they have beefed up their bowling attack today as well and would be backing themselves.