Key events
12th over: Sri Lanka 63-0 (Avishka 29, Kamindu 31) More spin, this time from Salman. Seven runs are mined from it, plus a wide will do very nicely.
11th over: Sri Lanka 55-0 (Avishka 26, Kamindu 27) Arafat whips through another over, just four singles from it.
Meanwhile, in Cape Town, Australia, chasing 288, have lost two wickets in their first over. Geoff Lemon is nervously watching.
10th over: Sri Lanka 51-0 (Avishka 24, Kamindu 25) Shaheen shimmies in with over number five. Kamindu has had enough faffing about and launches into hook which flies over fine leg for six. He tries again and may have got a feather on the ball, but it fails to carry through to Baig. At the end of the power play, a fairly equally balanced measure.
9th over: Sri Lanka 43-0 (Avishka 23, Kamindu 18) Arafat, shirt untucked, big white trainers, like any kid in any park. He’s on the money, varies his trajectory and float. Just a single from the over.
8th over: Sri Lanka 42-0 (Avishka 22, Kamindu 18) Just two runs from an immaculate Shaheen.
7th over: Sri Lanka 40-0 (Avishka 21, Kamindu 17) Spin from Arafat Minhas. Kamindu reverse-sweeps him for four, but otherwise he holds his line.
6th over: Sri Lanka 35-0 (Avishka 21, Kamindu 12) Booster rockets launched! Avishka first unfurls a divine cover drive for four, then picks up Naseem Shah bouncer and flays it over backward square leg for six, finishes with a straight drive that purrs over the rope.
5th over: Sri Lanka 20-0 (Avishka 7, Kamindu 12) A neat over by Shaheen, five dots and Kamindu tucks into a short one and dispatches it for four.
Apologies if you’ve tried to get through on email, the address was slightly wrong, should work now.
4th over: Sri Lanka 16-0 (Avishka 7, Kamindu 8) Shah, green paint across his cheek, hustles in. He donates a wide to a handful of singles than a beautifully timed nibble from Kamindu slides to the rope only to be cut off at the last by a sprinting Arafat Minhas.
3rd over: Sri Lanka 10-0 (Avishka 6, Kamindu 4) Shaheen, something less than a towel, more like an ironed pocket hankerchief, tucked into his waistband runs in. Kamindu launches into a pull but just collects a single, but Avishka collects the first boundary of the day to short fine leg.
2nd over: Sri Lanka 5-0 (Avishka 2, Kamindu 3) Pakistan’s James Dean, Naseem Shah, slides in at the other end. Shorter, skiddier. Sri Lanka’s eager beavers have to be content with knocking about a few singles.
Meanwhile, it is the first day of the season in the southern hemisphere where my nephew Winston made 71 for Avondale college to help win the game. A big auntie hug flying over the oceans.
1st over: Sri Lanka 2-0 (Avishka 2, Kamindu 0) The imposing figure of Shaheen Shah Afridi stands at the top of his mark, a still mountain before the dawn. He sprints in, elbows jutting, and his first ball is on the wide side of a yawn but the umpire ignores it. A scattering of a crowd are starting to settle in the green seats. And Sri Lanka get their first runs off the the last ball of a tidy over.
Apologies all, back online in time to see Pakistan strolling out to the middle.
The anthems
The players are lined up neatly, starting with Sri Lanka.
Slight technical hitch here, as I’ve lost transmission, bear with me a minute.
Pakistan XI
Pakistan: Maaz Sadaqat, Fakhar Zaman, Babar Azam, Saad Baig (wk), Salman Agha, Hasan Nawaz, Arafat Minhas, Faheem Ashraf, Shaheen Shah Afridi (c), Naseem Shah, Haris Rauf.
Sri Lanka XI
Sri Lanka: Kamindu Mendis, Avishka Fernando, Kusal Mendis (c, wk), Pavan Rathnayake, Sahan Arachchige, Janith Liyanage, Dasun Shanaka, Dunith Wellalage, Maheesh Theekshana, Asitha Fernando, Dilshan Madushanka
Pakistan win the toss and will field!
A pleased Shaheen Shah Afridi announces one change – a poorly Shadab is replace by Faheem Ashraf. Sri Lanka, who lose a toss at last, also have one change, Maheesh Theekshana steps into Eshan Malinga’s boots.
Preamble
Good morning! It’s final time in the triangular tournament world, where Pakistan and Sri Lanka are about to battle it out at the Gadaffi Stadium in Lahore. You may think there are more interesting things going on in Cape Town, but actually this competition has been a mini-classic, with Sri Lanka’s suddenly powerhouse batting stealing the sunshine, Pakistan finding their bowling boots and England repeatedly pulling defeat from behind victory’s left ear.
Pakistan lost their most recent match against Sri Lanka, but come off the back of four wins prior to that; Duckett and Dawson got the better of Sri Lanka in the consolation win on Thursday, but it was close, so fingers crossed for an evenly-matched belter.
Play starts at 8am, do join us.
Source: https://www.theguardian.com/sport/live/2026/oct/31/pakistan-v-sri-lanka-tri-series-odi-final-live
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