A solid century from Sahibzada Farhan set up Pakistan’s 5-run victory against Sri Lanka in the men’s T20 World Cup 2026 clash played at Pallekele.
Despite their win, they failed to qualify for the semi-finals due to New Zealand’s better run rate in the group 2 of the Super 8s points table in the T20 World Cup.
After invited to bat first, Pakistan’s Sahibzada Farhan and Fakhar Zaman opened the innings while Dilshan Madushanka opened the bowling attack.
The duo made a solid start, smashing 64 runs in the powerplay. They went on to make a 176-run partnership for the first wicket.
Zaman, who scored 84 runs off 42 deliveries, which included 9 fours and 4 sixes, was dismissed by Dushmantha Chameera.
With Khawaja Nafay and Shadab Khan dismissed for 2 and 7 runs, Sahibzada Farhan went on to slam his second century of the ongoing T20 World Cup campaign.
Dasun Shanaka bagged the wickets of Mahammad Nawaz and Salman Agha for ducks in the same over, while Dilshan Madushanka bagged the wicket of Sahibzada Farhan.
A thrilling finish in Kandy sees Pakistan hold their nerve to wrap up their #T20WorldCup campaign 👊
📝: pic.twitter.com/bdyS9cC8Dq
— T20 World Cup (@T20WorldCup) February 28, 2026
Dilshan bagged his third wicket, dismissing Naseem Shah for a run as Pakistan amassed 212 runs in their 20-over innings.
Chasing 213 run target, Pathum Nissanka and Kamil Mishara opened the innings while Shaheen Afridi opened the bowling attack. With Naseem Shah bagging the wicket of Pathum Nissanka for 3 runs, Kamil Mishara got dismissed by Abrar Ahmed for 26 runs.
By the end of powerplay, Sri Lanka scored 49 runs with Asalanka and Pavan Rathnayake on the crease.
Abrar picked his second wicket, sending back Asalanka for 25 runs. With Kaminud Mendis and Janith Liyanage dismissed cheaply, Pavan Rathnayake added 58 runs while Dasun Shanaka quickened the innings.
Rathanayake’s dismissal in the 18th over for 58 runs has put Sri Lanka on tough spot. Dasun Shanaka went on to smash 76* runs off 31 deliveries as Sri Lanka scored 207 runs in their 20-over innings.
Abrar Ahmed bagged three wickets while Shaheen Afridi, Naseem Shah and Mohammad Nawaz bagged one wicket each.
Sahibzada Farhan was named the Player of the match. Speaking on the post-match presentation, Farhan said, “First of all, I had it in my mind that we would do well as a team.”
“The way Fakhar was playing, I actually felt that if he had scored a hundred, it would have been even better for the team. But it was my destiny to get it. Honestly, this hundred did not help the team win,” concluded Sahibzada Farhan.
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