Sri Lanka bowled Pakistan out for 110 and chased the target down in 18.1 overs to win the fifth match of the ODI Tri-Series by eight wickets in Lahore on Tuesday, securing a place in Saturday’s final. Dilshan Madushanka took five wickets and Kamindu Mendis finished unbeaten on 62.
Sri Lanka won the toss and bowled. Madushanka removed Fakhar Zaman in the fourth over and returned to take the last four wickets of the innings, finishing with 8.3-1-34-5. Pakistan were dismissed in 25.3 overs.
The innings turned on two pairs of wickets that fell without a run between them. Pakistan were 61 for 4 when Salman Agha went in the 13th over, and 61 for 5 one ball later when Babar Azam — the top scorer with 29 — was lbw to Eshan Malinga. The seventh and eighth wickets also fell at 91. Only a last-wicket stand, in which stand-in captain Shaheen Shah Afridi made 15, lifted Pakistan from 92 to 110.
Sahan Arachchige took 2 for 24, with one wicket each for Asitha Fernando, Malinga (4-1-8-1) and Dunith Wellalage.
Chasing 111, Sri Lanka lost Avishka Fernando for 16 with the opening stand worth 50, and captain Kusal Mendis for 8. Kamindu Mendis, opening the innings, then added an unbroken 52 with Pavan Rathnayake, who finished on 23 not out. Kamindu’s 62 came off 60 balls with eight fours and two sixes. Sri Lanka reached 114 for 2 with 191 balls to spare.
What it means for the tournament
Pakistan had already qualified on Sunday by beating England. This result confirms Sri Lanka as the second finalist, as this desk set out after that match: England, with no points from three games, could reach at most two, so a single Sri Lankan win put them beyond reach.
Sri Lanka still play England on 29 October, but that fixture no longer bears on qualification. The final is in Lahore on 31 October, against Pakistan — the side Sri Lanka lost to by 37 runs in the opener.
Not reported
None of the three filings gives a reason for Pakistan’s collapse beyond the bowling, and none reports crowd, conditions or injury news. Pakistan were led by Shaheen Shah Afridi in this match; no filing explains the change of captain.
Figures in this report are taken from the ESPNcricinfo scorecard and reconcile exactly: Pakistan’s 103 runs off the bat plus seven extras make 110, and Sri Lanka’s 109 plus five extras make 114. The scorecard page itself carries no publication date, so the dated match report is cited instead.
