Delhi: Thanks to Salman Aga's brilliant century, Pakistan defeated Sri Lanka by 37 runs in the tri-series match (PAK vs SL) played in Rawalpindi on Sunday, 18 October. Batting first, Pakistan scored 305 runs despite a bad start and losing wickets in the last overs. In reply, Sri Lanka tried to make a comeback on the basis of the century partnership of Pawan Ratnayake and Janith Liyanage, but Pakistani bowlers changed the course of the match in the last overs.

After the initial setbacks, Babar Azam and Saad Baig took over the innings.

Pakistan, who came to bat first after the toss, did not have a good start. Dilshan Madushanka sent both the opening batsmen to the pavilion within the first six overs. Fakhar Zaman hit a six on a free hit in his innings, but he could not play a big innings.

After this Babar Azam and Saad Baig took charge. Both of them batted aggressively and increased the run rate, especially Saad Baig put pressure on the Sri Lankan bowlers by hitting many sixes.

However, Ishan Malinga first dismissed Babar for 45 runs and then sent Saad Bagg to the pavilion in the next over. Pakistan's innings faltered once again due to the fall of wickets of both the batsmen.

Salman Agha's century took Pakistan beyond 300

After two consecutive wickets fell, Salman Agha and Hasan Nawaz took over the innings. There was a good partnership between the two and Pakistan again started scoring runs rapidly. Agha completed his half-century, while Hasan Nawaz took the team's run pace forward with a six over deep midwicket.

Sri Lanka broke this partnership by dismissing Hasan Nawaz, but Agha continued his aggressive style.

He batted brilliantly and completed his century and took Pakistan to a strong score.

However, Pakistan's innings faltered badly in the last six overs. The team scored only 37 runs during this period and lost its last five wickets. Agha, who scored a century, also got caught at long-on. Despite this, Pakistan was successful in scoring 305 runs, which proved to be a challenging target for Sri Lanka.

Bad start for Sri Lanka, Shaheen Afridi wreaked havoc

Sri Lanka's start to chase the target of 306 runs was also disappointing.

Avishka Fernando got out early after hitting a top edge, while Kusal Mendis was seen struggling to score runs. At one time he was playing after scoring only 13 runs in 31 balls.

Ultimately Faheem Ashraf dismissed Mendis. After this Pawan Ratnayake came to the crease, but initially he also had to face a lot of difficulties. Shaheen Afridi increased Sri Lanka's problems by taking two wickets within two overs.

Sri Lanka's score after 20 overs was 91/4. The team needed a big partnership to stay in the competition.

Pawan Ratnayake and Janith Liyanage raised hopes of victory

Pawan Ratnayake and Janith Liyanage batted brilliantly in difficult situations.

Both of them brought Sri Lanka back into the contest by hitting boundaries at regular intervals. Ratnayake completed his half-century after the drinks break and put pressure on Pakistan by hitting two consecutive sixes in one over of Shaheen Afridi.

The century partnership between the two batsmen had raised hopes of Sri Lanka's victory. However, Pakistan got the important success when Ratnayake gave an easy catch at cover.

After this, captain Dasun Shanaka batted aggressively and hit boundaries against Faheem Ashraf and Arafat Minhas. But at the other end, Liyanage was dismissed by Haris Rauf. This dealt another big blow to Sri Lanka's hopes.

Shaheen Afridi turned the match by dismissing captain Shanaka

Now the responsibility of taking Sri Lanka to victory was on Captain Shanaka. Pakistan captain Shaheen Afridi decided to complete his spell himself and his move worked. He almost ended Sri Lanka's hopes of a comeback by taking the important wicket of Shanaka.

After this, Sri Lanka's lower order batsmen could not last long. Naseem Shah and Haris Rauf ensured Pakistan's victory by taking the remaining wickets.