Shadab Khan celebrates after hitting the winning runs

Image courtesy of: ESPNcricinfo

Shadab Khan took one wicket and conceded 14 runs from his four overs before smashing a game-winning 16 not out to lead Pakistan to a nail-biting two-wicket win over Sri Lanka in Abu Dhabi.

With Pakistan having won the first game as well, they now hold an unassailable 2-0 lead going into the third and final Twenty20 International in Lahore on Sunday.

Being put in to bat first, Sri Lanka got off to a solid start as Danushka Gunathilaka and Dilshan Munaweera amassed a 43-run partnership before Munaweera was run out by Imad Wasim for 19.

Gunathilaka and Sadeera Samarawickrama kept the runs flowing with a 63-run partnership, during which Gunathilaka brought up his fifty, before Samarawickrama was run out for 32.

Danushka Gunathilaka scored his maiden fifty in the shortest format

Image courtesy of: ESPNcricinfo

Three balls later, Gunathilaka was dismissed by Shadab for 51, which came off 48 balls and included four boundaries and a six.

Once Gunathilaka was gone, Sri Lanka began to lose wickets in a hurry as they went from 107/3 in the 17th over to finishing on 124/9.

Faheem Ashraf was the pick of the bowlers with three wickets, which came courtesy of a hat-trick, while Hasan Ali snapped up two and Shadab chipped in with one.

Chasing 125 to win, Pakistan made a brisk start to their innings before opener Fakhar Zaman was run out for 11.

Babar Azam, Ahmed Shehzad and Shoaib Malik all fell in quick succession before Mohammad Hafeez and captain Sarfraz Ahmed stabilised things with a 39-run partnership.

However, once Hafeez was sent packing for 14, Pakistan’s collapse continued, during which Sarfraz was run out for 28.

As a result, Pakistan went into the final over needing 12 runs to win, but they didn’t start well as Ashraf was caught by Gunathilaka off the bowling of Vikum Sanjaya for four runs.

One run came off the next ball before Pakistan took three off the third following a dropped catch by Gunathilaka at long-off.

Shadab then hit a six to leave Pakistan two runs away from victory and finished things off on the penultimate ball of the match.

Sri Lanka captain Thisara Perera was the most successful bowler with three wickets, while Sanjaya, Isuru Udana and Sachith Pathirana claimed one wicket each.

Thisara was gutted to have lost off the second-last ball of the match, and said: “If we look back at this match, we can take a lot of positives. My team-mates are giving 100%. Just at the last minute we missed a catch. But we did well. On this wicket, it was really hard to put up a big score. One-twenty four is a hard score to defend but our bowlers did a really really good job to take it that far.

“My team-mates are giving me 100% effort and so I give my 100% to the team as well. As a captain, I’m really proud of them and our win is not too far away. It’s coming soon. Set batsman need to contribute, if we take the first two batters, our plan is that they have to play till the 15th over. Unfortunately they couldn’t do it. Went to Lahore for the World XI game. It’s an amazing place.”

Sarfraz was relieved to have won, and said: “Our bowlers did really well to pull Sri Lanka down form their position of strength while they were batting. The fielding too was really, really good. And then Shadab at the end, hitting that six, that was a million-dollar shot. In that crunch situation, on this difficult pitch, that shot was very difficult.

“Our youngsters are putting up big performances. We back them, our coaching staff backs them and they are coming good, even in high pressure situations. We have a New Zealand tour, and we can’t be batting like this then. We are trying to improve and hopefully we do before going away. Good that we’ve won the series now, but we are looking forward to the game in Lahore. Hopefully the ground is full and the people support Sri Lanka as well.”

Shadab was named Man of the Match, and said: “I was just thinking about trying to win the match. I went for the six in the last over, and Allah helped it carry over the fence. In T20s, you have to have variations with the ball. So that’s what I’ve been working on.”