RAWALPINDI: Pakistan’s 2-1 victory over Sri Lanka in the Twenty20 International series ended with a reminder that winning a contest and addressing the weaknesses exposed during it are two different things.
Having secured the series with emphatic victories in the first two matches, Pakistan suffered an eight-wicket defeat in the third T20I at the Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium on Tuesday.
The result did little to diminish the achievement of the hosts, but it offered a timely warning ahead of the ODI tri-series involving Sri Lanka and England, which begins on Sunday.
For head coach Mike Hesson, the defeat was an opportunity to examine the depth of his squad rather than a reason to question the team’s progress.
“We’ve won every single series and earned the right to expose our squad to opportunities like we did today,” he said after the match, pointing to Pakistan’s record over the previous 18 months.
The argument has merit. Pakistan had already done enough to secure the series, allowing the management to assess players beyond its established first-choice combination. Yet the final match also demonstrated how quickly a promising position can unravel when the middle order fails to provide sufficient substance.
Pakistan, asked to bat first, were reduced to 102-6 before captain Sahibzada Farhan and Arafat Minhas added 66 runs for the seventh wicket. Farhan’s 76 off 47 deliveries and Minhas’s unbeaten 34 off 20 lifted the total to 168-8, rescuing an innings that had threatened to collapse well short of a competitive score.
Sri Lanka, however, made light work of the chase. Captain Kusal Mendis struck an unbeaten 87 off 48 balls, while Kamindu Mendis contributed 40 not out from 27 deliveries. Their unbroken 98-run partnership took the visitors to 172-2 in just 17.1 overs, with 17 balls remaining. The contrast between the sides was striking. Pakistan needed a recovery operation to reach a respectable total; Sri Lanka required no such intervention in the chase. The visitors’ batters adapted to the conditions, used the pace of the ball and punished Pakistan’s failure to maintain consistent lines and lengths.
Hesson acknowledged that his side had fallen short in the middle overs, estimating that Pakistan had left themselves 20 to 30 runs short.
“Credit to Sri Lanka as well. They played better and came up with some different plans today. We probably didn’t adjust as well as we have in the last couple of games,” he said.
The observation points to a familiar challenge for Pakistan — the capacity to respond when an opponent changes its approach. The middle order’s difficulties cannot be judged on one innings alone, particularly after the side’s commanding performances earlier in the series. But the final match underlined the importance of having batters capable of rebuilding without allowing the scoring rate to stagnate.
Pakistan’s earlier displays offered considerable encouragement. Farhan led the side to a four-wicket victory in the opener with 89, while Maaz Sadaqat’s blistering 96 off 51 balls powered Pakistan to a comprehensive 82-run win in the second match. Imran Randhawa’s three-wicket haul in that game further highlighted the emergence of young talent. The series was therefore as much about identifying new options as it was about securing the result.
Farhan’s own progress was another positive. Leading Pakistan in a bilateral T20I series for the first time, he produced three consecutive half-centuries and showed that the responsibility had not weighed on his batting.
Hesson believes the captain is also developing tactically, although the process will take time.
“As you gain confidence, you begin to trust your instincts more,” he said, adding that Farhan was learning to read the game. The coach also stressed the value of having experienced players available to assist a captain on the field.
In T20 cricket, where momentum can shift within a handful of deliveries, the distinction between a sound plan and its successful execution is particularly important. Farhan’s development will depend not only on his own decisions but also on how effectively the bowling attack carries them out.
There was encouragement, too, in the pace offered by Razaullah, whose raw speed has given Pakistan another option to develop. Hesson said Shaun Tait, Pakistan’s new bowling coach, could help the young fast bowler refine his lengths and learn when to use the bouncer or yorker. The challenge will be to turn that natural pace into a reliable weapon rather than an occasional source of disruption.
The immediate focus now shifts to the ODI tri-series, with Pakistan, Sri Lanka and England set to compete in Rawalpindi and Lahore from Oct 18 to 31. England, the world’s top-ranked side, will provide a demanding test, while Sri Lanka will carry the confidence of Tuesday’s victory into the next assignment.
The format will require a different balance of patience and aggression. Pakistan’s ODI side, Hesson said, had made encouraging progress over the previous six months, and the priority would be to sustain that improvement. With established players returning to the wider white-ball picture, the tri-series should provide a clearer measure of the side’s readiness for tougher opposition.
Published in Dawn, October 15th, 2026
