Farhan Lights the Way: Pakistan Chase 183 and Go 1-0 Up Against Sri Lanka

In the 19th over the lights went out at Rawalpindi with Sri Lanka on 168 for 6 and Lahiru Udara on 87. When play resumed, Sri Lanka had eight balls left in their innings. They scored 14 more runs and lost Udara nine short of a hundred. The final total of 182 for 8 needed a good chase, and Pakistan, led by Sahibzada Farhan, produced one.

Farhan's 89 from 53 balls, with ten fours and four sixes, and Maaz Sadaqat's 50 from 29 had Pakistan on 146 for 1 in the 14th over, needing 37 from 37 balls. Five wickets then fell for 34 runs. Khawaja Nafay was still there at the end with 12 not out from seven balls. Sri Lanka 182/8 (20 overs). Pakistan 187/6 (18.5 overs). Pakistan won by four wickets with seven balls remaining and lead the three-match series 1-0.

Pakistan won this chase in the powerplay. Farhan and Fakhar Zaman put on 54 from 31 balls, and 70 for 1 after six overs was 25 runs more than Sri Lanka had managed in theirs. Sadaqat then reached fifty from 28 balls, and he and Farhan added 92 from 52 balls for the second wicket. Pakistan reached 100 in 9.2 overs and stayed well ahead of the asking rate.

The end was less tidy. Maheesh Theekshana trapped Sadaqat lbw at 146, and Hasan Nawaz and Saim Ayub followed within eight balls, leaving Pakistan on 156 for 4. Farhan went at 179 and Shadab Khan at 180, but by then only three runs were needed. Pakistan will be pleased with the result and less pleased with the way they lost five wickets for 34 runs in the closing overs.

With the ball, Pakistan had Sri Lanka on 18 for 2 inside four overs. Naseem Shah dismissed Kusal Mendis in the first over, and later returned to remove Dunith Wellalage and Udara in the 19th, finishing with three for 36. Mohammad Imran's four overs cost 21 and brought two wickets, the most economical spell of the match. Fakhar Zaman held three catches. The one real blemish was the extras column: Pakistan conceded 29 extras, more than any Sri Lankan batter except Udara.

Udara opened the batting, lasted until the 19th over, and gave Sri Lanka something to bowl at almost entirely by himself. His 91 from 55 balls, with eleven fours and a six, came out of an innings in which no team-mate made more than 23. He added 60 from 37 balls with Kamindu Mendis for the third wicket and 57 from 34 with Dasun Shanaka for the fifth. Kamindu's 23 and Shanaka's 18 were the next-best scores. Kusal Mendis made 1, Kamil Mishara 6 from 13 balls, and Sahan Arachchige 1. Sri Lanka's 182 was built on 91 from Udara and 29 in extras; the other ten batters made 62 between them.

The bowling had Pakistan on 156 for 4 and gave Sri Lanka a chance. Theekshana took two for 36 in his four overs, Eshan Malinga two for 33, and Nuwan Thushara ended Farhan's innings. But the 70-run powerplay had already given Pakistan enough room, and Sri Lanka could not take wickets quickly enough to use it.

The scores suggest a good pitch for batting where the new ball still helped the side bowling it well. Sri Lanka were 45 for 2 after the powerplay and took until 6.5 overs to reach fifty; Pakistan were 70 for 1 and got to fifty in 4.5 overs. Spin did not dominate: Theekshana and Abrar Ahmed both went for 36 in their four overs. Mohammad Imran was the most economical bowler at 5.25 an over. The floodlight failure came with Sri Lanka on 168 for 6 in the 19th over; the scorecard records the stoppage but not how long it lasted.

Farhan batted almost the whole chase, from the first ball until the 18th over. He had 28 of the first 50 runs in the opening stand, reached fifty from 33 balls, and was 48 at drinks with Pakistan on 100 for 1. When Sadaqat was hitting hard at the other end, Farhan was content to score 17 of their first 50 together. When wickets started falling around him, he kept going until only four runs were needed. A chase like this needs both an aggressive start and a batter to see it through, and Farhan did both.

Our preview did not name a winner, but it leaned towards Sri Lanka as the more settled side, with the stronger squad on paper. Pakistan won, so that lean was wrong.

Our players to watch had mixed nights. Shadab Khan, our Pakistan pick, bowled three overs for 33 and took a wicket, and was out for a duck. Matheesha Pathirana, our Sri Lanka pick, was not in the XI, and nor were Wanindu Hasaranga or Pathum Nissanka, whom we discussed at length. We suggested Pakistan might rest Sahibzada Farhan; he played and was Player of the Match. We expected Saim Ayub to open with Fakhar Zaman, but Ayub batted at five. What we got right was Naseem Shah: we said his knowledge of his home ground at Rawalpindi could matter, and he took three for 36.

Pakistan lead the three-match series 1-0. All three games are at Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium: the 2nd T20I is on October 11 and the 3rd on October 13. The tour then turns to Tests, with a tour match in Islamabad on November 4, the 1st Test at Rawalpindi from November 9, and the 2nd Test at the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore from November 17. Sri Lanka need to win on October 11 to keep the T20I series alive, and they need more support for whoever bats like Udara did.