Pakistan beat Sri Lanka by four wickets with seven balls to spare in the first T20I of their three-match series at the Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium on October 9, taking a 1-0 lead in new captain Sahibzada Farhan's first match in permanent charge. Sri Lanka posted 182 for 8 after being put in, with Pakistan getting home in 18.5 overs.
Lahiru Udara was Sri Lanka's standout batter, scoring 91 to drive the total to a competitive 182 for 8, but the rest of the visitors' order offered little support. Sri Lanka also went into the match without regular options Pathum Nissanka and Wanindu Hasaranga, both ruled out through injury, with stand-in leader Charith Asalanka also left out of the XI under new captain Kusal Mendis. A touring party already missing senior figures found itself relying on a single big innings rather than the kind of depth that tends to defend totals in the high 180s.
Pakistan's reply was built around a 92-run second-wicket stand between Farhan, who made 89, and Maaz Sadaqat, who struck 50 off 29 balls with three sixes. The hosts lost a flurry of wickets late in the chase as Sri Lanka's bowlers fought back in the closing overs, but Khawaja Nafay finished the match with a six to seal victory with balls to spare, giving the uncapped wicketkeeper a memorable finish on debut.
The match marked Farhan's first assignment as Pakistan's full-time T20I captain after Salman Ali Agha was dropped from the role, with uncapped wicketkeeper Nafay and seamer Mohammad Imran Randhawa given their maiden call-ups to the squad. Farhan becomes Pakistan's fourth T20I captain in roughly two and a half years, a sign of how unsettled the leadership picture has been in the format, and selectors have hinted the current rebuild is aimed at the next T20 World Cup cycle rather than purely short-term results. A composed captain's innings to set up the win is about the best possible start Farhan could have asked for, both for his own standing and for a dressing room that has seen frequent changes at the top.
Rawalpindi's pitch has traditionally offered a reasonably even contest between bat and ball in T20Is, without the extreme batting-friendly tendencies seen at some other Pakistani venues, which made Sri Lanka's below-150 contribution from everyone outside Udara particularly costly. With all three matches of this series at the same ground, conditions are unlikely to shift dramatically between games, putting the onus back on team composition and execution rather than toss luck heading into the second T20I on October 11.
Losing Nissanka and Hasaranga to injury before a series even starts is a significant blow for a touring side already managing a captaincy change of its own, with Kusal Mendis only recently installed in the role. Sri Lanka's team management will need either Asalanka's recall or fresh contributions from further down the order in the remaining two matches if they are to level the series, particularly given how one-dimensional their batting looked once Udara was dismissed.
The series continues with the second T20I at the same venue on October 11, followed by the decider on October 13, before both sides turn to an ODI tri-series with England that is scheduled to start in Rawalpindi on October 18.
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Scores, individual figures and squad details in this article are verified against same-day and freshly re-checked reporting as of October 10, 2026.
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