Salman Agha ton powers Pakistan to victory in tri-series opener
ThePapareNews article
Pakistan opened their ODI Tri-Series 2026 campaign with a 37-run victory over Sri Lanka in the first match played today (18 October) at Rawalpindi.
Having won the toss, Sri Lankan skipper Kusal Mendis elected to bowl first, with Avishka Fernando, Sahan Arachchige and Dasun Shanaka returning to the playing XI.
Pakistan posted a formidable total of 305 runs, led by a brilliant century from former skipper Salman Agha. The right-hander scored 107 runs off 90 deliveries, including 10 fours and a six, to anchor the innings and put Pakistan in a strong position.
Sri Lanka’s Eshan Malinga was the standout performer with the ball, claiming 4 wickets for 46 runs. Asitha Fernando also made an impact with three wickets, while Dilshan Madushanka chipped in with two scalps to restrict Pakistan to 305.
In reply, Sri Lanka endured a difficult start, slipping to 91 for 4 and leaving themselves with plenty of work to do in the run-chase. However, Pavan Rathnayake and Janith Liyanage revived Sri Lanka’s hopes with a crucial 119-run partnership for the fifth wicket off 107 deliveries.
Rathnayake top-scored with a fighting 79 off 74 balls, striking 6 fours and 2 sixes, while Liyanage contributed a valuable 60 off 74 deliveries, including 5 fours. The pair brought Sri Lanka back into contention, but their dismissals shifted the momentum back in Pakistan’s favour.
Sri Lanka subsequently lost their way and were bowled out for 268, falling 37 runs short of the target. Pakistan’s Shaheen Afridi led the bowling effort with 3 wickets for 55 runs to help secure the victory.
Pakistan won by 37 runs
Updated at 09:57 PM 2026-10-18
Pakistan 1st Innings
- Batsmen · R · B · 4s · 6s · SR
- Fakhar Zaman · c Sachindu Colombage b Dilshan Madusanka · 16 · 19 · 2 · 1 · 84.21
- Saim Ayub · c Janith Liyanage b Dilshan Madusanka · 7 · 8 · 0 · 1 · 87.50
- Babar Azam · c Pavan Rathnayake b Eshan Malinga · 45 · 57 · 6 · 0 · 78.95
- Saad Baig · c Sachindu Colombage b Eshan Malinga · 39 · 40 · 3 · 2 · 97.50
- Agha Salman · c Dasun Shanaka b Asitha Fernando · 107 · 90 · 10 · 1 · 118.89
- Hasan Nawaz · c Pavan Rathnayake b Asitha Fernando · 37 · 49 · 2 · 2 · 75.51
- Arafat Minhas · c Kamindu Mendis b Asitha Fernando · 18 · 15 · 2 · 0 · 120.00
- Faheem Ashraf · c Kusal Mendis b Eshan Malinga · 6 · 6 · 0 · 0 · 100.00
- Shaheen Shah Afridi · not out · 13 · 12 · 2 · 0 · 108.33
- Naseem Shah · lbw b Eshan Malinga · 0 · 1 · 0 · 0 · 0.00
- Haris Rauf · run out () · 0 · 4 · 0 · 0 · 0.00
- Extras · 17 (b 0 , lb 4 , nb 2, w 11, pen 0)
- Total · 305/10 (49.5 Overs, RR: 6.12)
- Fall of wickets: · 1-12 (NE Bolton, 1.1 ov), 2-40 (MM Lanning, 8.1 ov), 3-148 (AJ Healy, 26.6 ov), 4-151 (EA Perry, 28.5 ov), 5-225 (RL Haynes, 39.3 ov), 6-225 (BL Mooney, 40.1 ov), 7-312 (S Molineux, 49.2 ov)
- Bowling · O · M · R · W · Econ
- Asitha Fernando · 10 · 1 · 59 · 3 · 5.90
- Dilshan Madusanka · 10 · 0 · 67 · 2 · 6.70
- Dasun Shanaka · 7 · 0 · 41 · 0 · 5.86
- Eshan Malinga · 9.5 · 1 · 46 · 4 · 4.84
- Sachindu Colombage · 10 · 0 · 61 · 0 · 6.10
- Kamindu Mendis · 2 · 0 · 19 · 0 · 9.50
- Sahan Arachchige · 1 · 0 · 8 · 0 · 8.00
Sri Lanka 1st Innings
- Batsmen · R · B · 4s · 6s · SR
- Kamindu Mendis · c Faheem Ashraf b Shaheen Shah Afridi · 44 · 50 · 4 · 0 · 88.00
- Avishka Fernando · c Faheem Ashraf b Naseem Shah · 5 · 9 · 1 · 0 · 55.56
- Kusal Mendis · c Saim Ayub b Faheem Ashraf · 18 · 34 · 2 · 0 · 52.94
- Pavan Rathnayake · c Salman Agha b Faheem Ashraf · 79 · 74 · 6 · 2 · 106.76
- Sahan Arachchige · c Saad Baig b Shaheen Shah Afridi · 3 · 5 · 0 · 0 · 60.00
- Janith Liyanage · c Babar Azam b Haris Rauf · 60 · 74 · 5 · 0 · 81.08
- Dasun Shanaka · c Babar Azam b Shaheen Shah Afridi · 28 · 18 · 3 · 1 · 155.56
- Sachindu Colombage · c Saad Baig b Naseem Shah · 1 · 4 · 0 · 0 · 25.00
- Eshan Malinga · run out (Babar Azam) · 2 · 6 · 0 · 0 · 33.33
- Asitha Fernando · b Haris Rauf · 7 · 10 · 1 · 0 · 70.00
- Dilshan Madusanka · not out · 1 · 5 · 0 · 0 · 20.00
- Extras · 20 (b 0 , lb 3 , nb 0, w 17, pen 0)
- Total · 268/10 (48.1 Overs, RR: 5.56)
- Fall of wickets: · 1-12 (NE Bolton, 1.1 ov), 2-40 (MM Lanning, 8.1 ov), 3-148 (AJ Healy, 26.6 ov), 4-151 (EA Perry, 28.5 ov), 5-225 (RL Haynes, 39.3 ov), 6-225 (BL Mooney, 40.1 ov), 7-312 (S Molineux, 49.2 ov)
- Bowling · O · M · R · W · Econ
- Shaheen Shah Afridi · 10 · 0 · 55 · 3 · 5.50
- Naseem Shah · 10 · 0 · 43 · 2 · 4.30
- Haris Rauf · 9.1 · 0 · 48 · 2 · 5.27
- Faheem Ashraf · 8 · 0 · 49 · 2 · 6.12
- Arafat Minhas · 9 · 0 · 56 · 0 · 6.22
- Saim Ayub · 2 · 0 · 14 · 0 · 7.00
Based on ThePapare reporting