PPAKISTAN beat Sri Lanka by six wickets in the third ODI on Sunday to seal a 3-0 series win. Mohammad Rizwan scored an unbeaten 61 and Fakhar Zaman made 55 as Pakistan chased the 212-run target in 44.4 overs.
Earlier, Mohammad Wasim took 3-47, while Haris Rauf and Faisal Akram claimed two each to bowl out Sri Lanka on a slow Rawalpindi pitch.
This was Pakistan’s fourth straight ODI series win over Sri Lanka, following victories in 2015, 2017 and 2019.
Pakistan lost opener Haseebullah Khan for a duck before Babar Azam and Zaman added 74 for the second wicket. Jeffrey Vandersay then removed Zaman, Azam (34) and Salman Agha (six) in the space of 33 runs.
Rizwan and Hussain Talat, who remained unbeaten on 42, put on a 100-run stand for the fifth wicket to take Pakistan to 215-4.
Zaman struck eight boundaries, while Rizwan’s innings included four boundaries. Vandersay finished with 3-42.
It was Pakistan captain Shaheen Shah Afridi’s second series win as skipper after the 2-1 result against South Africa earlier this month.
"I think winning a series gives great happiness," said Shaheen. "We bowled well in this series so it's nice for the future."
Sri Lanka captain Kusal Mendis pointed to his side’s batting issues.
"The top five got good starts but did not go on long and we did not get a big total which cost us badly," said Mendis.
Sri Lanka, who had lost the first two games in Rawalpindi, were without skipper Charith Asalanka due to fever. Sadeera Samarawickrama top-scored with 48 and added 43 with stand-in captain Mendis (34), but the innings slipped from 143-4 to 193-8.
Pathum Nissanka made 24 and Kamil Mishara scored 29 before both fell to Rauf and Wasim. Akram, in his first international match in a year, dismissed Kamindu Mendis for 10 and later removed Samarawickrama.
Debutant Pavan Rathnayake scored 32, hitting a six and two boundaries, before being run out attempting a second run.
The series was played amid security concerns following Tuesday’s suicide bombing in Islamabad that killed 12 people and injured several others. The second ODI was delayed by a day after some Sri Lankan players considered leaving the tour, but both boards agreed on increased security.
Pakistan and Sri Lanka will now join Zimbabwe for a T20 tri-series starting November 18.
(With inputs from agencies)
