Sri Lanka Beat Pakistan by 8 Wickets — Madushanka's Career-Best 5 for 34 Skittles the Hosts for 110 and Books a Final

Some bowlers take wickets with pace and some with movement. In Lahore, Dilshan Madushanka took them with bounce, bowling in the mid-130s on what Sri Lanka's batters would later show was a perfectly decent pitch, and making the ball climb at Pakistan's batters until they had nowhere to go. His 5 for 34 is a career-best, only his second ODI five-wicket haul, and the first since the 2023 World Cup.

Pakistan were bowled out for 110 in 25.3 overs, their second-lowest ODI total at home and their third-lowest against Sri Lanka. Sri Lanka needed only 18.1 overs to get there. Sri Lanka won by eight wickets with 191 balls to spare, ending a five-match losing run against Pakistan. The whole match lasted 43.4 overs, and it sends Sri Lanka into the final against Pakistan, with England eliminated.

Madushanka's first wicket set the pattern. A short ball reared at Fakhar Zaman, who could only fend it to point, and Pakistan were 11 for 1 in the fourth over. Asitha Fernando's inswinger trapped Maaz Sadaqat, Madushanka had Saad Baig caught at short cover, and Pakistan were 47 for 3 at the end of the first powerplay. Then came the part of the innings that decided it: Salman Agha feathered Sahan Arachchige to Kusal Mendis, Eshan Malinga nipped one back to trap Babar Azam, and Shadab Khan gloved a sweep, all within 11 balls. 61 for 5 became 64 for 6. Malinga's four overs cost eight runs.

The chase was simple, though not without some luck. Kamindu Mendis, opening with Avishka Fernando, was dropped behind the stumps early by Saad Baig, and later, as he tried to reach his fifty, was caught at deep backward square only for the fielder to tread on the boundary rope. Otherwise he was in complete control: 62 not out off 60 balls with eight fours and two sixes. Sri Lanka had 50 up in 6.1 overs, and after Avishka and Kusal fell, Pavan Rathnayake (23 not out) helped Kamindu finish it with an unbroken 52.

Only Babar, with 29 off 33, and three others reached double figures. The problem was less the quality of the bowling than the way Pakistan got out: driving to short cover, feathering a dab, gloving a sweep, chipping a lofted drive to long-off. Hasan Nawaz and Arafat Minhas added 27 for the seventh wicket, the highest stand of the innings, until Madushanka came back and had Minhas caught off the shoulder of the bat. Nawaz then hit a catch to long-off, and three wickets fell for one run.

Pakistan also made things worse with the reviews. They used both on lbw decisions against Maaz and Babar, and both replays showed three reds, so when Shadab wanted to review his dismissal, they had none left. Shaheen Shah Afridi did the most with the ball, removing Avishka for 16, and Minhas bowled Kusal Mendis with an odd dismissal in which a defensive shot bounced back onto the stumps. But with 110 to defend, Pakistan needed far more than that. This was their first defeat of the series after three wins, and they will still play the final. Coming into it, though, they will be thinking about how they batted here.

Don't let the scores mislead you. Sri Lanka's chase showed this was a placid, good batting surface, and Pakistan's bowlers struggled to find much in it. What made the difference in Pakistan's innings was Madushanka's ability to get the ball to climb from a length, and Sri Lanka's discipline in the first 15 overs. Sri Lanka chose to field, and the match finished not long after the floodlights came on, so whatever the evening might have offered never came into it.

Madushanka was one of the leading wicket-takers at the 2023 World Cup, and injuries have stalled him since. On Tuesday he looked close to his best again. He isn't fast, but he hits the bat hard, and in two spells he took the wickets of an opener (Fakhar), a middle-order batter (Baig), the man trying to rebuild (Minhas) and the last two (Rauf and Shaheen). His 8.3 overs included a maiden. With Sri Lanka in a final and a World Cup coming, the timing could hardly be better.

Our preview called Pakistan rightful favourites, and that was wrong. We said the match would likely be decided in the first 15 overs and that early wickets would cause a middle-order collapse. That part was right, just the wrong way around: Pakistan were 61 for 5 in the 14th over. We named Dilshan Madushanka as part of Sri Lanka's new-ball threat and Kamindu Mendis as the batter who needed to deliver, and they were the two best players in the match. We also advised Sri Lanka to bat first if they won the toss; they chose to bowl and won by eight wickets. Hasaranga and Pathirana, who we expected to lead Sri Lanka's attack, were not among the five bowlers they used. Right about the key players, wrong about the result.

Pakistan (three wins from four) and Sri Lanka (two from three) will meet in the final, so Sri Lanka's last group match against England on Thursday is now a dead rubber. That gives them a chance to rest players or to give Arachchige, who had a quiet series before this, more overs. For Pakistan, the question is the top order. Two days after beating England by one wicket, they could not get past 110 here. Kamindu and Madushanka will feel they've found their form at the right time.