Pakistan have a last-ball thriller against Sri Lanka but are out of the T20 World Cup ICC Men’s T20 World Cup News

Pakistan need to beat Sri Lanka by a considerable margin to leapfrog New Zealand into the second semi-final qualification spot.

Pakistan crashed out of the Twenty20 World Cup despite a five-run win over already eliminated Sri Lanka in the Group Two Super Eight match at Pallekele.

Their subpar net run-rate meant Pakistan needed a big win against Sri Lanka on Saturday to beat New Zealand and join group leaders England in the semi-finals.

Sahibzada Farhan (100) and Fakhar Zaman (84) scored 212-8 after a T20 World Cup record opening partnership of 176 runs.

They needed to restrict their opponents to ⁠147 or less, but Sri Lanka finished on 207-6, almost snatching victory.

Pawan Rathnayake scored 58, and Sri Lankan captain Dasun Shanaka made an unbeaten 76 off 31 balls, including hitting three consecutive sixes in the final over as his side narrowly limped to a memorable victory.

Earlier, Farhan became the first player to score two centuries in a single T20 World Cup.

Farhan scored a 60-ball 100 and fellow opener Fakhar Zaman hit 42-ball 84 as Pakistan posted their highest T20 World Cup total after being asked to bat.

Farhan hit five sixes and nine fours to take his total to 383 runs in the tournament, surpassing the T20 World Cup record of 319 runs set by India’s Virat Kohli in 2014.

Farhan and Zaman put on an opening partnership of 176 runs in 15.5 overs. Zaman hit four sixes and nine fours.

Farhan was dismissed by Dilshan Madhushanka in the final over to complete his 59-ball century by pushing Dasun Shanaka for a single run.

Madhushanka was Sri Lanka’s best bowler with 3-33.

Pakistan’s previous highest total in a Twenty20 World Cup was 201-5 against Bangladesh in Kolkata in 2016.