Pakistan ended their tour of Sri Lanka on a winning note with a consolatory four-wicket victory in the third T20I at Dambulla. Having already conceded the series, Pakistan produced an impressive bowling display to restrict the hosts to 113 before chasing down the target with 10 balls to spare.
Asked to bat, Sri Lanka made a brisk start and reached 44/1 at the end of the Powerplay. Skipper Chamari Athapaththu set the tone by striking two boundaries in the opening over and shared a 36-run stand with Imesha Dulani before the latter was stumped in the sixth over. The wicket did little to halt Sri Lanka’s momentum as Sanjana Kavindi got going with two boundaries of her own.
Athapaththu and Kavindi added another 36 runs to take Sri Lanka to a comfortable 72/1 at the end of the 11th over before Pakistan wrested back control. Momina Riasat struck twice in the 12th over to dismiss both set batters, triggering a collapse. Sri Lanka then lost three more wickets over the next four overs as their scoring rate dipped sharply. Pakistan capped off an excellent bowling effort with disciplined death bowling, conceding just 22 runs without allowing a boundary in the final four overs to restrict the hosts to 113/6.
Pakistan made a positive start to the chase as well, with the openers striking six boundaries in their 29-run stand. Kavisha Dilhari removed both openers within the space of three overs, although Pakistan still reached 44/2 at the end of the Powerplay. Sri Lanka kept themselves in the contest with regular wickets, but Ayesha Zafar held the innings together, finding timely boundaries whenever the pressure mounted. She eventually fell to Athapaththu in the 17th over, but her 31-ball 39 had taken Pakistan close enough to the target and victory was sealed in the 19th over.
Brief Scores: Sri Lanka 113/6 in 20 overs (Chamari Athapaththu 34; Momina Riasat 2-18) lost to Pakistan 115/6 in 18.2 overs (Ayesha Zafar 39; Chamari Athapaththu 2-20, Kavisha Dilhari 2-24) by four wickets.
