Sri Lanka beat Pakistan by eight wickets in the third and final T20I at the Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium, avoiding a series sweep in a match that no longer carried a series outcome of its own. Kusal Mendis finished unbeaten on 87 off 48 balls to chase down Pakistan's 168 for 8, with Sri Lanka reaching 172 for 2 in 17.1 overs as Pakistan closed out the series 2-1.
Sahibzada Farhan top-scored for Pakistan with 76, giving the hosts a total of 168 for 8 after being put in to bat, but it was a lower score than the totals Pakistan had posted in each of the first two matches of the series. Farhan finished the series with 238 runs across the three matches, by far the standout individual return on either side.
In reply, Kusal Mendis played the innings of the series for Sri Lanka, reaching 87 not out and sharing an unbroken stand with Kamindu Mendis, who finished on 40 not out off 27 balls, as the tourists chased the target down with 17 balls to spare. Dasun Shanaka took three wickets with the ball earlier in the day, giving Sri Lanka a platform with both bat and ball that had been largely missing through the first two matches. Kusal Mendis was named Player of the Match.
The result does not change the series outcome — Pakistan had already sealed the series 2-0 after wins built on big scores from Farhan and Maaz Sadaqat in the opening two matches — but it gives Sri Lanka a result to build on after a series that had otherwise gone one-sidedly in Pakistan's favor. For a touring side that had managed only a combined 261 runs across its first two innings of the series, a near-130-strike-rate chase in the finale is a more encouraging sign heading into the group's next assignments.
A dead-rubber win is a modest consolation on the scoreboard, but for Sri Lanka's batting unit — and Kusal Mendis in particular, who had gone without a big score in the first two matches — closing out the tour with a chase of this quality offers something concrete to carry forward, even in a series lost 2-1.
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Scores and individual figures in this article are verified against same-day and freshly re-checked reporting as of October 15, 2026.
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