LAHORE: A blend of questionable team selection and a familiar middle-order collapse saw Pakistan lose to Sri Lanka by 35 runs in the second T20I at the Gaddafi Stadium Lahore on Monday.
The result saw Sri Lanka take an unassailable 2-0 lead in the three-match series. It was the inexperienced islanders' first-ever win over Pakistan in a bilateral T20I series.
The hosts needed a victory in order to keep the series alive but a poor display of bowling allowed the visitors to post a sizable 183-run target.
The target should still have been gettable for a side playing in their own backyard but a sequence of three wickets in four balls wrecked the Pakistani middle-order, left the run chase in tatters, and eventually leaving too much to do for the lower-order batters who tried their best but to no avail.
The pivotal game saw coach Misbahul Haq and co make a plethora of questionable selection calls. Ahmed Shehzad and Umar Akmal, who had failed in the first T20I, were retained whereas the in-form Iftikhar Ahmed was sacrificed in favour of Fakhar Zaman, who contributed just six runs to the team’s losing cause.
The turning point: The eight over of the run chase was when the match took a decisive turn against Pakistan. Wuninda Hasaranga took three wickets in four balls and broke the Pakistani batting line-up’s back. Pakistan never recovered.