Pakistan vs Sri Lanka, Final - Live Cricket Score, Commentary

Pakistan have finished their quota of T20Is for this year and they will be upbeat about their progress even though they lost the Asia Cup. Salman Agha did mention that they have clarity over the 15 players they want to take to the World Cup. Sri Lanka meanwhile have a lot to think about. The middle-order collapses have been far too familiar and very unlike Sri Lanka. The bowling department too needs some fine-tuning and even Shanaka felt that this is not the kind of cricket that Sri Lanka generally plays. That's it from this tri-series then. There's lots of cricket around the globe. Let's catch up soon. Good night!

Salman Agha collects the trophy and he then takes it to his teammates as they wait to pose with the champions board.

Salman Agha | Pakistan captain: It was a great performance from us. We played South Africa and Sri Lanka in both ODIs and T20Is and we want to continue doing well. Before going into a mega event, you always want your 15 players fully ready. In a World Cup, you never know what might happen. If, God forbid, anything happens to any main player, you want to be sure your bench is ready too. So we wanted to give everyone opportunities, and everyone has been performing their roles really well. I’m very happy with that. It’s been four or five months now, and we’ve defined the roles every player needs to perform. They’re executing them really well. I hope they continue this in the future as well. It’s been five or six months now, everyone knows their role and is performing it. I really hope this continues. I think we’re pretty much ready for the World Cup. But we still have six games before that. If we need to try anything, we definitely will. But we’re very close to finalizing those 15 players.

Dasun Shanaka | Sri Lanka captain: We expected the wicket to behave better than this, but they bowled really well in the middle overs. Still, you had the chance to capitalize after a really good start. At the same time, we must realize when to take chances against spin - especially left-handers getting out to off-spinners and right-handers to left-arm spin. Those were avoidable. We need to fine-tune the small things at the international level. But we take this as learning. Hopefully, we’ll correct these issues before the World Cup. We’re playing Pakistan in January as well, so that series will be important, we'll do better in that series hopefully. With the T20 World Cup around the corner and most games in your backyard, there are still plenty of positives. Starting from Kamil Mishara, Nissanka, Kusal Mendis, and in the bowling department, Chameera bowled really well in this tournament, as did Maheesh Theekshana and Wanindu Hasaranga. All the bowlers contributed. At the same time, the team showed good intent in the field, which is another positive. We know we’re a quality side, so hopefully we can do well against Pakistan and in the World Cup. I’m very confident about that. We enjoyed this tournament as a group. Unfortunately, we were not allowed to go out much, but the company of the Pakistan players and the Zimbabwe players was great, I have a lot of friends in both teams. Credit to the security forces; they supported us in every situation. It’s not easy to handle all this organize everything. I must thank PCB for ensuring our safety. Hopefully, in the future, I’ll get the chance to come to Pakistan again and play good cricket.

Mohammad Nawaz | Player of the Match | Player of the Series: To deliver when the team needs is important for a player and it gives a lot of confidence, you tend to execute better out in the middle. I plan with the coaches because you don't have many options as a finger-spinner, so it's better to keep everything simple. I just try to keep my mind switched on and be game-aware. I just try to read the game better keeping such things into consideration. I try and bat according to what the game situation demands - whether a partnership is needed or if quick runs are needed. When the team is in trouble, I try to counterattack and play accordingly.

Pakistan in T20I tri-series finals
Beat Aus in Harare 2018 (6 wkts)
Beat NZ in Christchurch 2022 (5 wkts)
Beat Afg in Sharjah 2025 (75 runs)
Beat SL in Rawalpindi 2025 (6 wkts)

21:20 Local Time, 16:20 GMT, 21:50 IST: This victory makes it 21 wins in 34 T20Is this year - the most Pakistan have won in a calendar year. They bossed the conditions throughout the tournament. Found ways to hit back hard with spin even when the opposition got starts and solid bases and the batters were generally good in having a gameplan. Today was nothing different. Sri Lanka were 84/1 but Nawaz, Abrar and Saim combined to trigger another batting collapse for Sri Lanka, before the pacers joined the fun to make it 8 wickets for the last 16 runs. It was a 150 pitch and 115 was always going to be a cakewalk. The hosts got a good sensible start and Babar then dropped anchor to ensure there's no panic in the dressing room. Sri Lanka's spinners weren't as good today and they hardly troubled the Pakistani batters. Overall, Pakistan outclassed the Lankans in all facets throughout the comp.

Kamil Mishara has taken the keeping gloves as Kusal Mendis has gone off the field