Pakistan had won all three games, and Madushanka’s 5 for 34 bowled them out for 110 to put Sri Lanka in the final
Dilshan Madushanka’s best ODI figures ended Pakistan’s unbeaten run in the Lahore tri-series, and England can no longer reach Saturday’s final.
Oct 27, 2026
Pakistan came into Tuesday’s game in Lahore with three wins from three and a place in the final already booked. They were bowled out for 110 in 25.3 overs, and Sri Lanka knocked the runs off for the loss of two wickets in 18.1 overs.
Dilshan Madushanka did most of the damage. The left-arm seamer took 5 for 34 in 8.3 overs, his best figures in ODIs, and the total was Pakistan’s second-lowest in an ODI at home. The win puts Sri Lanka in Saturday’s final, and it ends England’s chances with a game still to play.
Short balls and soft dismissals
Sri Lanka chose to bowl at the Gaddafi Stadium, and Madushanka’s first wicket set the pattern. A short ball reared at Fakhar Zaman, who could only fend it to point. Asitha Fernando trapped Maaz Sadaqat lbw with an inswinger and Eshan Malinga did the same to Babar Azam. Pakistan reviewed both and both decisions stood.
That left them with no reviews, which mattered when Shadab Khan gloved a sweep through to Kusal Mendis and wanted it checked. Saad Baig drove straight to short cover and Salman Agha edged a dab behind. From 46 for 2, Pakistan were 64 for 6 in the 15th over.
Babar top-scored with 29 off 33. Hasan Nawaz and Arafat Minhas added 27 for the seventh wicket before Madushanka came back and got a bouncer to pop off Minhas’s bat for Kusal to take. In the next over Nawaz chipped a lofted drive to long-off, and Pakistan had lost eight wickets for 91. Shaheen Shah Afridi hit two sixes before he top-edged a hook to fine leg, Madushanka’s fifth. Sahan Arachchige took two wickets, and Malinga’s four overs cost eight runs.
All over in 18.1 overs
Kamindu Mendis opened and made 62 not out off 60 balls, with eight fours and two sixes. Sri Lanka had 50 up inside seven overs before Shaheen had Avishka Fernando caught by Fakhar for 16, and Arafat Minhas bowled Kusal Mendis for 8 two overs later. Pavan Rathnayake, who made 130 when Sri Lanka chased 430 against England on October 22, stayed with Kamindu and finished it on 23 not out, thumping the first ball Maaz Sadaqat bowled to the cover-point boundary. Sri Lanka had 191 balls to spare.
The defeat is Pakistan’s first of the series. They had beaten Sri Lanka by 37 runs in the opener and England by 87, and on Sunday Shadab’s unbeaten 113 and a last-wicket stand of 89 with Haris Rauf took them from 154 for 9 to a one-wicket win over England. There was no rescue act this time. Shadab was gone for 2 in the 15th over, and the last four wickets added 46. Sri Lanka’s only other win was that chase in Rawalpindi, which they finished with a ball to spare.
Sri Lanka and England still meet in the last group game, but England cannot reach the final now. Pakistan and Sri Lanka play for the trophy in Lahore on October 31.