Pakistan is out of ICC T20 World Cup 2026. Pakistan’s hopes were raised by England’s victory against New Zealand but Sri Lankan batsman Pawan Ratnayake has dashed its hopes. Pakistan needed to win against Sri Lanka by at least 64 runs to reach the semi-finals. With the help of Sahibzada Farhan’s century, after scoring 212 runs at the loss of 8 wickets, he had bundled out half of the Sri Lankan team at the score of 101. It seemed that the Pakistani team would restrict Sri Lanka to 147 runs and make things happen. But Ratnayake had different intentions.
The 23-year-old batsman, along with captain Dasun Shanaka, thrashed the Pakistani bowlers and booked their return tickets. Ratnayake and Shanaka remained calm on the first few balls. After this, he changed gears in the 14th over and before the end of the 16th over, Sri Lanka crossed the mark of 147 runs. As soon as Sri Lanka scored 148th run, Pakistan was out of the tournament and New Zealand got entry in the semi-finals.
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Ratnayake is freezing
Meanwhile, Ratnayake had completed his fifty in 32 balls. Ratnayake, who came to the crease on the score of 33/2, showed excellent composure and kept the run pace going amid the fall of the wicket. He hit 4 fours and 3 sixes in his half-century innings, which put pressure on the Pakistani bowlers and they remained away from the wicket between 13-17 overs. This is where the qualification was snatched from the Pakistan team and the Kiwi team got the ticket for the last-4.
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Who is Pawan Ratnayake?
Right-handed batsman Pawan Ratnayake has emerged from age group cricket. Born in the capital Colombo, this player has also represented Sri Lanka at the Under-19 level. Ratnayake made his international debut on the Pakistan tour only last year. He made his T20I debut at the same venue on 16 November, nine days after making his ODI debut in Rawalpindi. Ratnayake has so far played 4 ODIs and 11 T20I matches for Sri Lanka. In One Day International, he has scored 194 runs with the help of a century. He has 208 runs in his name in T20I.
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