Pakistan Vs Sri Lanka: Farhan scores century in 212-8 win but Pakistan eliminated as New Zealand advance
In a dramatic Super 8s Group 2 fixture labelled a blockbuster in some accounts, pakistan vs sri lanka ended with Pakistan posting 212-8 and defeating Sri Lanka by five runs, but the victory was not enough to keep Pakistan in the T20 World Cup. New Zealand sealed second place in the group on net run-rate and progress to the semi-finals.
Pakistan Vs Sri Lanka: match outcome and qualification impact
Pakistan's 212-8, powered by a century from Sahibzada Farhan, proved sufficient to beat Sri Lanka by five runs. Despite the win, Pakistan were eliminated from the tournament because New Zealand clinched second place in Group 2 on net run-rate and advanced to the last four. Sri Lanka reached 148 in their chase but fell short of the target set by Pakistan.
Sahibzada Farhan's 100 and record-breaking partnership
Farhan made 100 and combined with Fakhar for a record-breaking 176-run opening partnership—an effort that underpinned Pakistan’s 212 total. Farhan’s tournament form was notable beyond the single innings: he broke the record for the most runs in a single edition of the men’s T20 World Cup.
Team changes: Babar, Ayub and Mirza left out for Nafay, Naseem and Abrar
Pakistan entered the game having made selection changes, dropping Babar, Ayub and Mirza and bringing in Nafay, Naseem and Abrar. Those personnel moves were part of a sequence of decisions that shaped the match-day XI.
Salman Ali Agha on dew, batting concerns and Usman Tariq
Pakistan captain Salman Ali Agha said losing the toss was decisive because dew would make bowling second challenging, and he described the pitch as good but hard to defend when restricting the opposition to 148. He noted the team had not batted consistently during the tournament, singling out Sahibzada Farhan as the lone exceptional performer with the bat. Agha said Usman Tariq had an off-day despite previously strong form and that Pakistan’s middle order has been a recurring concern for a few years. He observed that Pakistan batted well for 18 overs, but that in T20 cricket the opposition will find two good overs—if Pakistan had added 10–15 more runs, the outcome might have differed; even a total of 160, he added, would have been challenging.
Dasun Shanaka, Shaheen Afridi and Sri Lanka’s campaign
Sri Lanka captain Dasun Shanaka called the finish close and credited Shaheen Afridi for a decisive bowling moment at the end. Shanaka described the campaign as tough, apologised to fans for the team’s shortcomings, and pointed out that Sri Lanka had been missing two key bowlers, which he said was a significant loss for their World Cup hopes. He expressed hope those bowlers will return and contribute to Sri Lankan cricket.
Venue notes, commentary and next fixtures
The match is marked in the available accounts as part of the Super 8s Group 2. One account places the game in Pallekele; another labels it a blockbuster contest in Kandy, making the precise venue unclear in the provided context. Radio 5 Live Sport commentary was offered alongside written coverage, and fans were invited to use a "Get Involved" function to share views. A separate match report by Timothy Abraham is available for readers seeking more detail.
The Super 8s schedule continues: the next block of matches will begin on Sunday at 09: 15 GMT, starting with South Africa versus Zimbabwe and concluding with a winner-takes-all encounter between India and West Indies.
What makes this notable is that an emphatic individual performance and a record partnership could not overcome the tournament arithmetic—Pakistan’s on-field victory directly contrasted with their off-field elimination on net run-rate, illustrating how qualification can hinge on margins beyond a single result.
