Pakistan Beat Sri Lanka by 37 Runs in Tri-Series Opener at Rawalpindi, Salman Agha Hits 107

Pakistan beat Sri Lanka by 37 runs in the first match of the ODI tri-series at Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium on Sunday 18 October 2026. Pakistan made 305 all out in 49.5 overs, with Salman Agha scoring 107 off 90 balls, and Sri Lanka were bowled out for 268 in 48.1 overs. Salman Agha was named player of the match. Pakistan take 2 points and the first spot on the table.

We read the full scorecard on the morning of 19 October 2026. The PCB website was behind a bot check when we tried it, so the ball-by-ball detail below comes from the public scorecard, and the figures match the tri-series table on Cricket Australia's match centre, which also lists Pakistan on 2 points. The two sides meet again at Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore on 27 October.

Pakistan won by 37 runs after both sides were bowled out

Sri Lanka won the toss and chose to field. Pakistan were bowled out for 305 with one ball of the innings unused, and Sri Lanka, chasing 306, were all out for 268 with 11 balls left. The 37 run margin came from a Pakistan collapse at the end of their innings and a bigger Sri Lankan collapse at the end of theirs.

The match was the opener of the series we set out in the page on the Pakistan v Sri Lanka ODI on 18 October. Asif Yaqoob and Wayne Knights stood as on-field umpires, Sharfuddoula was the TV umpire and Jeff Crowe was the match referee.

Salman Agha's 107 off 90 balls rebuilt the innings from 118 for 4

Pakistan were 32 for 2 in the sixth over after Dilshan Madushanka removed Saim Ayub for 7 and Fakhar Zaman for 16. Babar Azam and debutant Saad Baig added 74 for the third wicket before Babar fell for 45 off 57 balls, and Saad Baig went in the 22nd over for 39. At 118 for 4 in the 22nd over, the innings needed rebuilding.

Salman Agha did that. He added 97 with Hasan Nawaz, who made 37 off 49, and then 64 with Arafat Minhas, who hit 18 off 15. Salman reached his hundred and was out for 107 off 90 balls, with 10 fours and 1 six, caught by Dasun Shanaka off Asitha Fernando in the 47th over with the score at 291. His innings is set out in full in the report on Salman Agha's 107 in Rawalpindi.

Then came the collapse. From 279 for 5 in the 45th over, Pakistan lost their last 5 wickets for 26 runs. Faheem Ashraf made 6, Naseem Shah was lbw first ball, and Haris Rauf was run out for 0 off the fifth ball of the 50th over, which ended the innings. Shaheen Shah Afridi, the captain, was 13 not out off 12. Eshan Malinga finished with 4 for 46 from 9.5 overs and Asitha Fernando took 3 for 59.

Sri Lanka were 253 for 5 and lost 5 wickets for 15 runs

Sri Lanka's chase swung twice. Naseem Shah had Avishka Fernando caught for 5, Faheem Ashraf removed captain Kusal Mendis for 18, and Shaheen Shah Afridi dismissed Kamindu Mendis for 44 and Sahan Arachchige for 3 in the space of two overs. At 91 for 4 in the 20th over, Sri Lanka were well behind.

Pavan Rathnayake and Janith Liyanage then put on 119 for the fifth wicket. Rathnayake made 79 off 74 balls, with 6 fours and 2 sixes, before Faheem Ashraf had him caught by Salman Agha in the 38th over at 210. Liyanage went on to 60 off 74, and when Dasun Shanaka hit 28 off 18 the score reached 253 for 5 in the 44th over, needing 53 from 39 balls.

Pakistan's bowlers took the last 5 wickets for 15 runs in 27 balls. Haris Rauf had Liyanage caught by Babar Azam, Shaheen had Shanaka caught by Babar too, Naseem Shah removed Sachindu Colombage, Eshan Malinga was run out by Babar and Saad Baig, and Rauf bowled Asitha Fernando to end the match at 268. How the chase fell apart is in the piece on Pakistan's last five Sri Lanka wickets for 15 runs.

Shaheen, Naseem, Rauf and Faheem shared the nine Sri Lanka wickets

Shaheen Shah Afridi took 3 for 55 from his 10 overs. Naseem Shah took 2 for 43, Haris Rauf 2 for 48 from 9.1 overs and Faheem Ashraf 2 for 49 from 8. Arafat Minhas bowled 9 overs for 56 without a wicket and Saim Ayub bowled 2 overs for 14. The tenth wicket was the Malinga run out.

Pakistan gave away 20 extras, 17 of them wides, against 17 extras from Sri Lanka. Babar Azam took two catches and shared the run out, Faheem Ashraf took two catches, and Saad Baig, on his ODI debut, took two catches behind the stumps and the run out with Babar. His day is in the report on Saad Baig's ODI debut.

Pakistan lead the tri-series table with 2 points and play England on 20 October

The win gives Pakistan 2 points and a net run rate of plus 0.74. Sri Lanka are on 0 with minus 0.74, and England have not played yet. Each side plays the other two twice, and the top two meet in the final at Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore, on Saturday 31 October. The table and what Pakistan need from here are in the page on the tri-series points table.

Pakistan's next match is against England at the same ground on Tuesday 20 October at 1 pm PKT, which we previewed in the page on the Pakistan v England ODI on 20 October. Sri Lanka play England in Rawalpindi on 22 October. The England and Wales Cricket Board lists all four England fixtures on its men's fixtures page.

1. Tuesday 20 October: Pakistan v England, Rawalpindi, 1 pm PKT.
2. Thursday 22 October: Sri Lanka v England, Rawalpindi, 1 pm PKT.
3. Sunday 25 October: Pakistan v England, Lahore, 1 pm PKT.
4. Tuesday 27 October: Pakistan v Sri Lanka, Lahore, 1 pm PKT.
5. Thursday 29 October: Sri Lanka v England, Lahore, 1 pm PKT.
6. Saturday 31 October: Final, Lahore, 1 pm PKT.

The playing conditions for the series, including the three powerplays and the two new balls, are in the page on ODI rules for the tri-series. The PCB website should carry its own report once the bot check clears.

Common questions

Who won the Pakistan v Sri Lanka ODI on 18 October 2026?

Pakistan won by 37 runs. They scored 305 all out in 49.5 overs and bowled Sri Lanka out for 268 in 48.1 overs at Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium.

Who was player of the match?

Salman Agha, for his 107 off 90 balls with 10 fours and a six. He came in at 106 for 3 and was seventh out at 291.

Who took the most wickets for Pakistan?

Shaheen Shah Afridi took 3 for 55. Naseem Shah, Haris Rauf and Faheem Ashraf took 2 each, and Eshan Malinga was run out.

Who bowled best for Sri Lanka?

Eshan Malinga took 4 for 46 from 9.5 overs, and Asitha Fernando 3 for 59. Dilshan Madushanka took the two openers and finished with 2 for 67.

When is Pakistan's next tri-series match?

Tuesday 20 October 2026 against England in Rawalpindi, starting at 1 pm PKT. After that Pakistan play England again in Lahore on 25 October and Sri Lanka in Lahore on 27 October.

Did anyone make a debut?

Yes. Wicketkeeper Saad Baig played his first ODI for Pakistan. He made 39 off 40 balls and took two catches.

How we verified this

What we checked, where we read it, and what we could not confirm.

We read the full scorecard of the Pakistan v Sri Lanka match, the first of the Pakistan ODI Tri-Series, on 19 October 2026, and the series standings and top scorers on Cricket Australia's match centre the same day, which agree with the scorecard. The England fixtures come from the ECB men's fixtures page, read on 19 October 2026. The PCB website returned a bot check on 19 October, so we could not read the board's own match report; partnership figures and the counts of wickets lost in each collapse are our arithmetic from the fall of wickets. Nothing in this report comes from another publisher.