In a virtual quarter-final of the T20 World Cup 2026 between Pakistan and Sri Lanka at the Pallekele International Cricket Stadium in Kandy, the Salman Ali Agha-led side, which made some brave decisions, including dropping Babar Azam from the playing eleven, got the chance to bat first as they decided to open with Fakhar Zaman.

It was peculiar and hard to understand why the management decided to drop Fakhar Zaman in the middle order, as he started with a strong boundary before going after the spinners from the very beginning inside the powerplay, which gave them a powerful start with the bat. He got full support from Sahibzada Farhan as they posted 64/0, which is their fourth leading score in the PP of the World Cups.

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With a cracking boundary against Dunith Wellalage over the square leg region, the left-handed batter has celebrated his fifty in 27 balls as he continued the same aggression in the very next delivery over the jumping fielder for a six. He smashed a few excellent flat shots over boundaries.

Fakhar Zaman gets out for 84 in PAK vs SL T20 WC 2026 clash

Zaman was finally dismissed for 84 runs in 42 balls with the help of nine boundaries and four sixes. The left-handed batter made room and looked to time the slot delivery from the seventh stump to his off side. But it turned out to be a dipping low full toss as the batter moved across to play behind square.

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However, Zaman ended up smashing it onto his stumps off the inside edge. He got a pat on his back from Farhan as the southpaw returned after collecting nine boundaries and four sixes at a strike rate of 200. Farhan went on to celebrate his century and was dismissed for 100 runs in 50 balls, thanks to nine fours and five sixes.

Pakistan lost its way towards the end of the game. They were 177/1 in their 16 overs before losing seven wickets for just 35 runs in the last four overs and ended with 212/8 in their allotted 20 overs of the innings. 

Brief Score: Pakistan 212/8 (Sahibzada Farhan 100, Fakhar Zaman 84, Dilshan Madushanka 3/33) vs Sri Lanka.