Pakistan whitewash Sri Lanka by winning the third ODI

Chasing a target of 212 in the third ODI, Pakistan secured an easy six-wicket win with 5.2 overs in hand. With this, Babar Azam’s team whitewashed Sri Lanka 3–0 in the series. Fakhar Zaman’s excellent start in building the innings, followed by the partnership between Mohammad Rizwan and Hussain Talat, brought the hosts a match-winning victory.

Earlier, brilliant bowling—especially Mohammad Wasim Jr’s three wickets—restricted Sri Lanka to just 211 runs.

Pakistan suffered an early blow in the chase for 212. Haseebullah Khan returned to the pavilion for a duck after facing 12 balls, falling to a superb delivery from Maheesh Theekshana.

But Fakhar Zaman handled the situation wonderfully. Facing Pramod Madushan and Theekshana with confidence, he scored 55 off just 45 balls, hitting 8 fours. Along with him, Babar Azam (34) added an 80-run stand, taking Pakistan to a strong position.

However, Jeffrey Vandersay brought Sri Lanka back into the match. In one spell, he had Fakhar caught in the deep, bowled Babar, and trapped Salman Agha lbw, putting Pakistan in trouble at 115/4.

From there, Rizwan and Talat rescued the team. Batting calmly and steadily, they completely snatched the match away from Sri Lanka. Rizwan scored an unbeaten 61 off 92 balls—his 19th ODI fifty. Talat played a composed innings of 42*.

On the other hand, after losing the toss and being sent to bat first, Sri Lanka made an excellent start. Pathum Nissanka and Kamil Mishara scored 55 runs within 8 overs. But both were dismissed quickly, and the team lost direction.

Nissanka (24) was bowled by Haris Rauf, while Mishara (29) fell to an outstanding length ball from Wasim Jr.

After that, Sri Lanka recovered somewhat with a 43-run stand between Kusal Mendis and Sadeera Samarawickrama. But the batting collapsed again. Wasim bowled Mendis (34), and Samarawickrama (48) was bowled by a sharp-turning delivery from Faisal Akram. With Kamindu Mendis and Janith Liyanage getting out quickly, the team was stuck at 143/5.

In the end, although Pawan Rathnayake’s 32-run effort raised a bit of hope, he received no support from the tail, and Sri Lanka were all out for 211 in 45.2 overs. Wasim took 3 wickets, while Faisal and Rauf picked up 2 each.