PAK v SL, 2nd T20I Review: Pakistan pull off an absolute thriller to seal the series

What can be said about this? It’s T20 cricket at its entertaining best! Pakistan was just about lurking on the edge and if it had not been for Shadab Khan, the Islanders had this game in their control. What should’ve been an easy win turned out to be a thriller with the home side’s suicidal batting, but eventually, the better team won the game.

Batting first, Danushka Gunathilaka and Dilshan Munaweera gave a decent start to the Sri Lankans. Though it wasn’t the greatest of pitches for batting, Munaweera and Gunathilaka managed to keep the scoreboard ticking with some smart batting. After going through the Powerplay phase without losing a wicket, they immediately lost one through a runout as Munaweera was at the receiving end of some dismal running.

Samarawickrama and Gunathilaka ensured a good partnership kept building. The run rate was not too high, but things kept floating at a decent pace. The duo added a 50-run stand for the second wicket and soon, Sri Lanka breached the 100-mark with over 5 overs to spare. Just when people were expecting a grandstand finish from the visitors, the hosts had other ideas.

In the final 23 balls of the innings, Sri Lanka lost 9 wickets and they somehow managed to end up with a below par score yet again. The catalyst of this downfall was Faheem Ashraf, who became the first ever Pakistani player to pick up a hat-trick in T20 Internationals. Though Gunathilaka got to a half-century, he could only help his side score 124 runs for the loss of 9 wickets.

A nerve-wracking finish

Sri Lankan bowlers were bang on target right from the outset. Knowing that they have nothing great to defend, they pulled the strings hard and ensured they gave nothing away. It all began with Fakhar Zaman running himself out through some catastrophic running. Almost immediately, Babar Azam was rapped on the pads by Udana and two men were back in the gallery inside the first 6.

Shoaib Malik and Ahmed Shehzad did bat their team out of the initial trouble. Yet, Malik was clearly to struggling to even get some wood behind the ball. To add insult to injury, both these gentlemen walked back in a span of five runs and it was the Lankan skipper Thisara Perera who did the damage.

The game was hanging in balance at the halfway mark and any result was possible. This is where the experience of Mohammad Hafeez and Sarfraz Ahmed made a huge difference. The duo didn’t go for anything audacious and added 39 runs for the 5th wicket. Just as they were about to breach the 100-run mark, left-arm spinner Pathirana induced a false shot of Hafeez to add life back to the game.

Thisara Perera’s 18th over saw the game take an interesting twist, with Imad Wasim getting dismissed and skipper Sarfraz running himself out by underestimating the arm of Gunathilaka. The 19th over of the game was an absolute peach from Udana, as he gave away just 4 runs to ensure they had 12 runs to defend in the final over.

Pakistan lost a wicket off the first ball and with a catch being dropped at long-off, they somehow sneaked 4 runs in the first three balls. Completely out of the blue, Shadab Khan struck a monstrous six down the ground to bring the equation to 2 off 2 balls and a simple nudge down the ground earned him a couple of runs. An emphatic all-round performance helped the hosts win the game by 2 wickets and they also materialized skipper Sarfraz’s dream to lift the trophy in Lahore.

Brief Scores

Sri Lanka: 124/9 in 20 overs (Danushka Gunathilaka 51, Sadeera Samarawickrama 32; Shadab Khan 1/14, Faheem Ashraf 3/16, Hasan Ali 2/31)

Pakistan: 125/8 in 19.5 overs (Sarfraz Ahmed 28, Shadab Khan 16*; Thisara Perera 3/24)