Sri Lanka aim to salvage pride on return to Pakistan

Seven games done and dusted and Sri Lanka have not yet been able to replicate their Test success in either of the white-ball formats of the game against Pakistan. But as the action moves to Lahore, in cricket-isolated Pakistan, there's a larger context than just another series whitewash for Pakistan or a consolation win for their visitors..

The Lahore T20I alone has made more headlines during the course of this bilateral series than any of the action on the field. Travelling to the venue where Sri Lanka's team bus came under attack from armed militants nine years ago and the security apprehensions ever since forced seven key Sri Lankan players to pull out of the fixture, followed closely by the head coach Nic Pothas. However, Sri Lanka Cricket's decision to stick by its commitment to its counterpart, Pakistan Cricket Board, is a stepping stone to accelerate the resumption of international cricket in the country.

The pull out, however, left a sizeable hole in the Sri Lankan side given that the SLC opted against fielding two separate teams for the series spread across two countries. The refurbished side has already conceded the series 2-0 but not without a stiff fight in the second of the two games on Friday (October 27).

Pakistan's bowlers denied the visitors the opportunity to convert a solid score of 106 for 1 into something challenging in the four death overs, picking eight wickets for 18 runs. But a batting collapse of their own - triggered by new Sri Lanka captainThisara Perera - saw Pakistan nearly surrender their series lead. Shadab Khan then pulled off a miraculous penultimate-ball-six escape to secure the series before boarding the plane to Lahore. In front of a capacity home crowd, and having played three matches at the venue recently, Pakistan go into the final match as favourites to inflict another limited-overs whitewash on Sri Lankans.

When: Pakistan vs Sri Lanka, 3rd T20I on October 29, at 6pm local | 6:30pm IST

Where: Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore

What to expect: The three recent internationals at the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore have all been high-scoring affairs, with the hosts winning two of them to clinch the World XI series last month. Expect a similar track, to go with a bright and sunny day, on the match day.

Team News

Pakistan: The hosts didn't tamper with their winning XI and went unchanged into the second game and that's unlikely to change for the third game as well. Fakhar Zaman's form has petered off since that famous hundred in the Champions Trophy final but the team management is likely to stick with him for another game before making any decision.

Sri Lanka: Sri Lanka showed faith in the same eleven they picked for the series opener and the new-look side almost forced the series into a decider. The fragile batting has emerged as a persistent issue but the visitors would likely back the same bunch in the hope to pull off a consolation win .

What they said:

"Collapses happen when you have got a pretty inexperienced side. Yes, we got a start and probably we could have done a little better. But the team has learnt very quickly and they have done that from that one game and from this one they will learn again." - Nic Pothas, Sri Lanka's head coach.

"Playing at the Gadaffi Stadium we are aware how much our crowd backs us there. I was telling my friends the crowd that we get home you can't get it anywhere." - Fahim Ashraf, first Pakistan bowler to claim a hat-trick in T20Is.

Squads:

Pakistan: Sarfraz Ahmed (c & wk), Fakhar Zaman, Ahmed Shehzad, Babar Azam, Shoaib Malik, Mohammad Hafeez, Imad Wasim, Shadab Khan, Mohammad Nawaz, Faheem Ashraf, Hasan Ali, Aamer Yamin, Mohammad Amir, Rumman Raees, Usman Shinwari, Umar Amin

Sri Lanka: Thisara Perera (c), Dilshan Munaweera, Danushka Gunathilaka, Sadeera Samarawickrama, Ashan Priyanjan, Mahela Udawatte, Dasun Shanaka, Sachith Pathirana, Vikum Sanjaya, Lahiru Gamage, Seekkuge Prasanna, Vishwa Fernando, Isuru Udana, Jeffrey Vandersay and Chathuranga de Silva, Minod Bhanuka.