{"id":42137,"date":"2026-02-28T15:04:39","date_gmt":"2026-02-28T15:04:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/?p=42137"},"modified":"2026-02-28T15:04:39","modified_gmt":"2026-02-28T15:04:39","slug":"openers-farhan-fakhar-fire-pakistan-into-strong-position-against-sri-lanka","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/?p=42137","title":{"rendered":"Openers Farhan, Fakhar fire Pakistan into strong position against Sri Lanka"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>Sahibzada Farhan and Fakhar Zaman put on a scintillating opening partnership to propel Pakistan to 146 without loss after 13 overs in their Super Eights Group 2 clash against hosts Sri Lanka at Pallekele.<\/p>\n<p>Sri Lanka won the toss and elected to field first, with Pakistan\u2019s semi-final qualification hinging on a complex combination of results and net run-rate calculations.<\/p>\n<p>Pakistan made three changes to their side, with Babar, Saim Ayub, and Salman Mirza not playing. Sri Lanka made two changes to their line-up, with Mishara coming in for Kusal Mendis, who misses out due to injury, while Hemantha is out and Janith comes in.<\/p>\n<p>Sri Lankan captain said, &#8220;It&#8217;s a good pitch. Might be dew later in the day. We&#8217;ve got some good players in our line-up. We&#8217;ve got to do our basics right. Here, we need to do well in all three departments.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Pakistan captain Salman Agha said, &#8220;Massive opportunity. We would have bowled first&#8230; [The goal now?] Put up a good total and restrict them. It&#8217;s a mix: it can be tough, sometimes you can have freedom to play your shots.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>A Kandy contest to savour as Pakistan strive for a #T20WorldCup semi-final spot and Sri Lanka aim to end their campaign on a high \ud83d\udc4a<\/p>\n<p>Tournament broadcast details \ud83d\udcf2 https:\/\/t.co\/NPykWM7qqY pic.twitter.com\/ZtRSj5Bs6y<br \/>\n\u2014 ICC (@ICC) February 28, 2026<\/p>\n<p>Pakistan\u2019s hopes of reaching the semi-finals of the ICC Men&#8217;s T20 World Cup 2026 remain alive but fragile. After two matches, Pakistan sit third in the group with one point from a washed-out match against New Zealand and a defeat to England.<\/p>\n<p>England, with two wins from two, has already secured a semi-final spot and leads the table on four points.<\/p>\n<p>At present, Pakistan\u2019s NRR stands at -0.461, placing added pressure on them to secure a convincing victory against Sri Lanka should qualification come down to margins.<\/p>\n<p>Sri Lanka, at the bottom of the group with no points and an NRR of -2.550, still has matches against both New Zealand and Pakistan, giving them a potential role as spoilers.<\/p>\n<p>Pakistan have an inferior run rate so need to win by 65 runs or inside 13 overs to overtake the Kiwis and deny them a place in the final four. If Pakistan qualify then the semi-final would be played in Colombo.<\/p>\n<p>Pakistan: Sahibzada Farhan, Fakhar Zaman, Salman Agha (c), Khawaja Nafay, Usman Khan (wk), Shadab Khan, Mohammad Nawaz, Shaheen Afridi, Naseem Shah, Abrar Ahmed, Usman Tariq<\/p>\n<p>Sri Lanka: Pathum Nissanka, Kamil Mishara (wk), Charith Asalanka, Pavan Rathnayake, Kamindu Mendis, Dasun Shanaka (c), Janith Liyanage, Dunith Wellalage, Maheesh Theekshana, Dushmantha Chameera, Dilshan Madushanka<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Sahibzada Farhan and Fakhar Zaman put on a scintillating opening partnership to propel Pakistan to 146 without loss after 13 overs in their Super Eights Group 2 clash against hosts Sri Lanka at Pallekele. Sri Lanka won the toss and elected to field first, with Pakistan\u2019s semi-final qualification hinging on a complex combination of results [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-42137","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-english-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42137","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=42137"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42137\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=42137"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=42137"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=42137"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}