Pakistan vs Sri Lanka, 3rd T20 Match Prediction 09 Oct 2019

Pakistan vs Sri Lanka 3rd T20 is going to be played at Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore on the 9th of October 2019. Sri Lanka is not only inexperienced on the account of the many withdrawals from this tour, but they also have such a poor recent T20I record that they have to go through the qualifiers of the 2020 T20I World Cup. And yet, they have now comfortably won a series against the top-ranked T20I side in the world.

The margin on this occasion was 35 runs and Pakistan was dismissed by the end of the 19th over. Opting to Bat, Danushka Gunathilaka started with a flurry of boundaries in the opening overs, extending his fine form on the tour, the signs were ominous for Pakistan. But he fell in the third over against the run of play, edging behind after looking to Sarfaraz of Imad Wasim. Poor Fielding, however, was Pakistan’s bane early as there were as many as three run-out opportunities missed at the non-striker’s end, with a brilliant effort from Shadab Khan that caused the run-out of Fernando sandwiched in between. In the previous match, it had taken Rajapaksa a few overs to find his timing, but here he was flying almost from the outset, smashing Wahab for two boundaries. He hit two more sixes and ended the powerplay with 52 for 2. Meanwhile, Jayasuriya was more about deftness and was constantly on the lookout for singles as he played his role effectively in the partnership.

Rajapaksa began to cut loose in the 11th over, launching Shadab for successive leg sided sixes and reached his maiden half-century off 31 balls. The 94-run partnership came to an end, courtesy Asif Ali, whose direct hit ended Jayasuriya’s stay while Rajapaksa fell soon after, failing in his attempt to clear Shadab. Sri Lanka lost wickets in a heap like the first T20I, this time losing 4 wickets for 20. Skipper Shanaka ensured a positive finish, scoring two fours off Amir in the 19th over and a six off Hasnain in the last over to power Sri Lanka past 180.

Fakhar Zaman brought in for Iftikhar Ahmed, failed to make an impact and Babar Azam’s string of low scores continued as he chopped Pradeep delivery on to the stumps. Sarfaraz counter-attacked with boundaries but they managed only 40 in the powerplay. Having hit for 2 sixes already, Hasaranga came back strongly to remove Shehzad with a googly and handed over successive golden ducks for Umar Akmal. He nailed a knock-out punch with his googly, as he ripped apart Sarfaraz to stun the Lahore crowd. Imad Wasim struck 47 off 29 balls in the company of Asif Ali, but the required rate proved too heavy for Pakistan’s lower order. When Udana got his revenge with the wicket of Imad Wasim, the derailing of the Pakistan line up started as they lost the remaining 5 wickets just in the space of 19 balls.

The weather forecast is promising with little or no chance of rain playing spoilsport.

The track could again turn out to be on the slower side, with bowlers looking for variations. Any score above 170 runs will be tough to chase.

With the continued failure in both the games, Pakistan would bat first this time around if the toss goes their way. Sri Lanka, on the other hand, will not change their winning pattern.