Maaz Sadaqat’s blazing 96 and pacer Muhammad Imran’s 3 for 11 fired Pakistan to an 82-run win over Sri Lanka in the second T20I at the Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium on Sunday, giving the hosts an unassailable 2-0 lead in the three-match series.
In front of a record crowd of 17,535, Pakistan posted 215 for 3 – their second-highest T20I total, their highest at home, and the first 200+ total at this venue – after being asked to bat first.
Maaz smashed 96 off 51 balls with seven sixes, the joint-most by a Pakistan batter in a T20I innings, while captain Sahibzada Farhan, playing his 50th T20I, hit 73 off 44 balls with five sixes. The pair added 88 off 49 balls for the second wicket after Fakhar Zaman’s 22.
Pakistan plundered 125 runs in the last 10 overs, including 22 off Maheesh Theekshana in the 16th over where Maaz hit three sixes. Maaz was dismissed off the last ball of the innings, four short of a maiden T20I hundred.
In reply, Sri Lanka collapsed to 133 for 7. Debutant hero from the last game, Imran, was unplayable with figures of 4-0-11-3, bowling his four overs on the trot and taking two wickets in two balls in the eighth over.
Salman Mirza, who replaced Razaullah, struck in the first over to remove Lahiru Udara for 5, while Shadab Khan and Saim Ayub chipped in with a wicket each. Sri Lanka slipped from 35-1 to 74-6, with only Maheesh Theekshana (32 not out) and Chamindu Wickramsinghe (29) offering resistance with a 50-run stand.
Pakistan had won the first T20I by four wickets on Friday. The third and final T20I will be played at the same venue on Tuesday, 13 October.
