Pakistan Eye Clean Sweep Against Sri Lanka in Final T20I at Rawalpindi Today, Visitors Fight to Avoid Whitewash

RAWALPINDI: Pakistan and Sri Lanka meet in the third and final T20 International of their series at the Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium on Tuesday evening, with the match scheduled to start at 6pm local time. The hosts have already sealed the series 2-0 and will be aiming to complete a clean sweep, while the visitors will be playing to avoid a whitewash and finish the tour with a win.

Pakistan dominant in the first two matches

Pakistan won the opening match by four wickets, chasing down Sri Lanka’s 182 with six wickets down. In the second match on Sunday, the hosts posted 215 for three, their highest T20I total on home soil, and then restricted Sri Lanka to 133 to win by 82 runs and take an unassailable lead.

Farhan and Sadaqat in form

Captain Sahibzada Farhan and young batter Maaz Sadaqat have led Pakistan’s batting in the series. Farhan made 89 and 73 in the two matches, while Sadaqat followed an opening-match fifty with 96 off 51 balls in the second game, falling just four runs short of a century. With the ball, Mohammad Imran took three wickets for 11 runs in the second match to break Sri Lanka’s top order.

Sri Lanka need improvement in batting and fielding

For Sri Lanka, Lahiru Udara’s 91 stood out in the first match, but the side struggled in the second, with dropped catches adding to their problems. The visitors may consider changes to their bowling attack for the final game. Rawalpindi’s surface is again expected to favour batters, so another high-scoring contest is possible if Sri Lanka can execute their plans better.