Salman Agha's ton powers Pakistan to Tri-Series opener win

Salman Agha's century was the highlight in Pakistan's victorious start to the tri-series as they beat Sri Lanka by 37 runs on Sunday (October 18) in Rawalpindi. Despite their poor finish with the bat, Pakistan managed to go past 300 on the back of Agha's ton. After Pavan Rathnayake and Janith Liyanage's century-long stand, Sri Lanka recovered from their shaky start and put themselves in position to hunt down 306 in response. However, toward the end, they withered under pressure and eventually fell.

Pakistan didn't get off to the greatest of starts after being asked to bat first. Fakhar Zaman started his innings with a six from a free-hit and went on to score a couple of boundaries. However, Dilshan Madushanka removed both the Pakistan openers inside the first six overs. That didn't stop Babar Azam and Saad Baig from starting their innings with early boundaries. The two batters continued to bat in positive fashion with Baig in particular dealing in sixes. As a result of Babar Azam's inability to control a pull, Eshan Malinga was forced to return for his second stint to end the partnership.

Malinga struck in his next over as well with another short-ball accounting for the other well-set batter Baig who got a top edge. Sri Lanka was unable to take advantage as Agha and Hasan Nawaz steadied the ship with an impressive partnership, forcing Pakistan to withdraw. The boundaries started flowing again after the duo gained confidence. After Agha brought up his fifty, Nawaz hammered a six over deep midwicket to put Pakistan on top. But Sri Lanka managed to strike at the right time once again to get rid of Nawaz.

Arafat Minhas's dismissal completely derailed Pakistan, despite Agha turning up the heat during the slog overs. In the final six overs, the hosts managed to add only 37 runs while losing their last five wickets including that of centurion Agha who failed to clear the man at long on. Even though Sri Lanka struggled in the run chase, the home team's total of 305 appeared to be more than sufficient. Avishka Fernando was run out early on due to a top edge, and Kusal Mendis struggled to get going, batting on 13 out of 31 at one point.

Kusal was finally put out of his misery by Faheem Ashraf and that brought Rathnayake out to the middle. Rathnayake got off to a rough start in his innings, getting run out multiple times. Even worse, he witnessed Shaheen Afridi hit twice in two overs, putting the visitors under a lot of pressure. Sri Lanka were 91/4 at the end of the 20th over and desperately needed a big partnership to get back in the game. Rathnayake and Liyanage provided exactly that as they kept finding the boundary regularly to help Sri Lanka crawl back into the contest.

Rathnayake brought up his half-century after the second drinks break before launching Afridi for successive sixes as the momentum slowly appeared to shift. Against the run of play, Pakistan made a crucial breakthrough when Rathnayake hit one straight to cover in tame fashion to give the hosts an opening. However, Dasun Shanaka came out of nowhere and hit Faheem for a few boundaries before pulling off the pull off for Minhas. At the other end, Haris Rauf picked up the other half-centurion, Liyanage, and began to damage Sri Lanka. As a result, Shanaka was tasked with working with the Sri Lankan lower order to complete the task.

Afridi opted to bowl himself out immediately in order to go for the kill and that ploy paid dividends as the skipper bagged the big wicket of Shanaka, effectively sealing the game for his side. On expected lines, Sri Lanka's tail caved in without a fight with Naseem Shah and Rauf completing the formalities to seal the win.