In this match played on Wednesday (January 7), Pakistan captain Salman Ali Aga won the toss and decided to bowl first, which proved to be completely correct. The Sri Lankan team, who came to bat first, had a very bad start. Opener Pathum Nissanka was out after scoring 12 runs, while Kamil Mishara could not even open the account. After this, Kusal Mendis (14), Dhananjay de Silva (10) and captain Dasun Shanaka (12) also could not stay on the pitch.
Charith Asalanka scored 18 runs in the middle order, but he too could not play a big innings. In difficult circumstances, Janith Liyanage played a struggling inning of 40 runs in 31 balls while holding one end. During this, he first added 35 runs for the fifth wicket with Asalanka and then made an important partnership of 38 runs for the sixth wicket with Wanindu Hasaranga (18).
However, apart from Liyanage, no other batsman could play convincingly and the entire Sri Lankan team was reduced to 128 runs in 19.2 overs.
For Pakistan, Salman Mirza and Abrar Ahmed performed brilliantly and took 3 wickets each. Whereas Mohammad Wasim Junior and Shadab Khan got 2-2 successes.
Chasing the target, Pakistan’s openers Sahibzada Farhan and Sam Ayub added 59 runs in 35 balls for the first wicket. Farhan played a brilliant inning of 51 runs in 36 balls, which included 4 fours and 2 sixes, while Sam Ayub scored 24 runs in 18 balls.
After this, captain Salman Ali Aga added 16 runs in 11 balls and finally Shadab Khan scored unbeaten 18 runs in 12 balls to give the team victory in just 16.4 overs.
For Sri Lanka, Wanindu Hasaranga, Mahish Teekshana, Dushmantha Chameera and Dhananjay de Silva got 1 wicket each.
The overall result was that Pakistan defeated Sri Lanka by 6 wickets in the first T20 match and took a 1-0 lead in the three-match series.
