3rd T20I: Sri Lanka aim to avoid whitewash against Pakistan
What's the story
Sri Lanka will take on Pakistan in the third and final T20I of the series on Tuesday. The match will be played in Rawalpindi, where Sri Lanka suffered defeats in the first two games. The hosts have already secured a 2-0 lead in the series and are looking for a clean sweep. Despite their recent struggles, Sri Lanka remain hopeful of turning things around with a strong performance. Here is the match preview.
Match details
Pitch report, weather conditions and H2H record
The pitch at Rawalpindi has been known to favor batters, and the surface for the third T20I is likely to be no different.
The weather forecast for Tuesday evening looks good, with temperatures expected in the low 20s Celsius.
Across 32 T20I meetings, Pakistan own a 20-12 win-loss record against the Lankans.
In Pakistan, it's 5-4 in the home team's favor.
Notably, the two sides have played five times in Rawalpindi with Pakistan leading 4-1, as per Cricinfo.
Recent form
Sri Lanka's struggles in T20Is
Sri Lanka's recent T20I record has been disappointing, with the team losing 12 out of 14 matches since their victory against Australia in the 2026 T20 World Cup.
The squad has seen major changes during this time, including new captains and a head coach.
Despite these changes, they have struggled to find a winning combination.
In the second match of the series, spinner Maheesh Theekshana was hit hard while seamers failed to trouble Pakistan's batters on a flat Rawalpindi pitch.
Pakistan posted 215/3 and later won by 82 runs.
Team strategy
Pakistan may rest key players after securing series win
Pakistan, on the other hand, is in a strong position to rest key players after winning the series 2-0.
However, given their batters rarely get such opportunities throughout a series, management may be tempted to keep this successful combination intact.
Despite Sri Lanka's bowlers possibly breaching Pakistan's top order this time around, the middle order could use some practice before heading into future matches.
XIs
Here are the predicted XIs
Sri Lanka XI (Probable): Lahiru Udara, Kusal Mendis (c & wk), Sineth Jayawardena, Kamindu Mendis, Sahan Arachchige, Dasun Shanaka, Chamindu Wickramasinghe, Maheesh Theekshana, Eshan Malinga, Binura Fernando, Nuwan Thushara.
Pakistan XI (Probable): Sahibzada Farhan (c), Fakhar Zaman, Maaz Sadaqat, Hasan Nawaz, Saim Ayub, Khawaja Nafay (wk), Shadab Khan, Mohammad Imran Randhawa, Naseem Shah, Salman Mirza, Abrar Ahmed.
Player spotlight
Players to watch out for
Maaz Sadaqat has scored 50 off 29 balls and 96 off 51 balls so far in this series, showing his ability against both spin and pace.
Lahiru Udara has finally made his mark on white-ball internationals with an impressive score of 91 off just 55 balls in the first match of this series.
Skipper Sahibzada Farhan also recorded 70-plus scores in the first two games.
Meanwhile, Mohammad Imran Randhawa bowled a stellar spell in the last game, claimimg 3/11 from four overs.