Pakistan 187 for 6 (Farhan 89, Sadaqat 50, Malinga 2-33) beat Sri Lanka 182 for 8 (Udara 91, Naseem 3-36, Imran 2-21) by 4 wickets
When Sri Lanka batted after winning the toss, it took Kamil Mishara nine deliveries to get off the mark. By the end of the fourth over, Sri Lanka were scoring at a run-a-ball, and had lost two wickets. Pakistan, by contrast, took just 2.2 overs to match that score; by the end of the sixth, they had powered through at dazzling speed thanks to Farhan and Zaman’s onslaught.
Sri Lanka took far too long to begin taking advantage of the powerplay. They struggled to find their timing, the powerplay littered with multiple plays and misses, and extravagant, low-percentage shots that bore no fruit. While they did launch a bit of a recovery in the final two overs, the slow start would end up proving costly as Sri Lanka left runs on the table.
Sri Lanka will want to move quickly on from this game, but to wipe it completely from the record would be a disservice to their opener. Confronted with a decent bowling attack on an off-day for his fellow batters, Udara almost batted through the Sri Lankan innings, playing just about every role a batter can in T20 innings.
He was the flashy starter, before shepherding his side through the early stages of the powerplay. He became an anchor for a bit before churning through the gears in the latter half of the powerplay. At times, he did so with strokes so classical they could be set to music, especially pleasing when he made some room and cleared extra cover off both pace and spin.
While support from Kamindu Mendis and Dasun Shanaka existed, it was fleeting. Soon enough, those wickets would fall, leaving Udara with the delicate dance of keeping the run rate up without letting the innings implode. That was especially true – and shown to be crucial at the death – because Sri Lanka were arguably playing a batter too light. When he finally holed out in the penultimate over, Sri Lanka ended up losing three wickets in five balls, the innings petering out on a surface where batting inadequacy was always going to be punished.