Pakistan beat Sri Lanka by three wickets in the ODI tri-series final at Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore, on Saturday, October 31, 2026, chasing 326 with nine balls to spare to win a first tri-series title on home soil and a first anywhere since the Kitply Cup in Bangladesh in 2008. Fakhar Zaman made 127 off 99 balls, Arafat Minhas smashed 61 off 31, and captain Shaheen Shah Afridi hit the winning six, as a chase that began at 14 for 2 ended at 331 for 7 in 48.3 overs.
Act one: 14 for 2 and a bruised knee
Sri Lanka, put in to bat after Pakistan won the toss, made 325 for 8. Kamindu Mendis scored 131 off 128 balls, his maiden ODI century, and Pavan Rathnayake made 77 off 65 balls. Pakistan’s reply began in crisis. Maaz Sadaqat fell for 5, Babar Azam fell for a five-ball duck, and the total stood at 14 for 2 before 31,265 fans at Gaddafi Stadium. The man walking in carried two problems: only 31 runs in his previous four innings, and a right knee bruised while fielding.
Act two: the 149-run rescue
Fakhar found his partner in 19-year-old debutant Saad Baig, who made 74 off 75 balls for a maiden ODI fifty. Together they added 149 off 140 balls for the third wicket and turned the chase around. Fakhar reached his fifty off 59 balls and his hundred, his 12th in ODI cricket, off 84 balls. After Baig fell, Fakhar added 57 off 41 balls with Salman Agha, who made 17 off 25. The stand ended when Dilshan Madushanka bowled Fakhar for 127 off 99 balls, with 11 fours and six sixes, in the 34th over. Pakistan were 220 for 4, still 106 from victory; Madushanka finished with 3 for 63. The final completed an arc that had started with Salman Agha’s 107 against Sri Lanka in the tri-series opener, which set up a 37-run win in Rawalpindi.
Act three: the 94-run finish
The finish belonged to the youngest players. Arafat Minhas smashed 61 off 31 balls and Hasan Nawaz made 37 not out, adding 94 for the sixth wicket. Dew made the ball hard to control late on. Hasan Nawaz levelled the scores, and captain Shaheen Shah Afridi hit Madushanka for six over midwicket in the 49th over to seal the title. Pakistan finished on 331 for 7 with nine balls to spare.
The records stack: what 326 really means
The number 326 is why this final will be remembered. It is the joint-highest successful chase in an ODI final, equalling India’s 326 against England at Lord’s in the 2002 NatWest final. For Fakhar, the hundred was his second in an ODI final after his 2017 Champions Trophy final hundred against India, equalling Saeed Anwar’s Pakistani record of two centuries in ODI finals. During the innings he also passed 4,000 ODI runs, reaching 4,019 in 96 innings at 44.65, becoming the 16th Pakistani batter past the mark. For the team, the trophy ended two waits at once: it was Pakistan’s first tri-series title on home soil after losing home finals in 1994 to Australia, in 2004 to Sri Lanka and in 2025 to New Zealand, and the first tri-series title anywhere since the Kitply Cup in Bangladesh in 2008. Pakistan had won three matches in a row before losing their final group game to Sri Lanka after being bowled out for 110.
What it settles, and what it does not
The final settles the Fakhar question that had followed the team all month. A batter with 31 runs in four innings and a bruised knee produced his first hundred in nearly three years and carried a chase of 326. It also settles the young core question: Baig, Minhas and Nawaz finished the game. What it does not settle is the Babar question, after a five-ball duck in a final, or whether this order holds up against stronger attacks. The tri-series was billed as a build-up to next year’s ODI World Cup in southern Africa, and three tests follow from this final. First, does the next ODI squad keep faith with Baig, Minhas and Nawaz, or revert to experience? Second, is Fakhar’s knee fully fit before the next series? Third, can Pakistan win the same way again, chasing a big total under lights, rather than relying on one great innings? October has already been crowded for Pakistan sport: the Hong Kong Sixes side beat India to top Group C, and the under-21 hockey team reached the Sultan of Johor Cup final on goals scored. Follow more sports news from Pakistan for the next ODI squad and the World Cup build-up.
