In his final over, Afridi chose to go round the wicket to face the right-handed Bumrah, successfully curbing the tailender's aggressive approach. This marked another outstanding performance by Pakistan's premier bowler.
A total of four wickets were claimed by Afridi, including the crucial dismissals of Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli at the start of the match. He followed this up with the removal of Hardik Pandya and Ravindra Jadeja in his closing spell. Bumrah, in a gesture of respect, opted to leave the last ball. India stands at 261/8 after 48 overs.
India's captain Rohit Sharma won the toss and elected to bat first in the match against Pakistan at Pallekele. Pakistan maintained the same lineup as the previous day. India, however, opted to exclude Mohammed Shami from the playing XI, instead choosing Shardul Thakur to complement Mohammed Siraj and Jasprit Bumrah in the pace department. Shreyas Iyer, returning to action after the India-Australia Test series earlier this year, was placed directly into the middle order ahead of Suryakumar Yadav.
Reports suggest that this pitch has more grass compared to the previous one used for the Pakistan vs. Nepal match. This track appears slow, with the bounce potentially on the lower side. Early grip and spin may be factors to watch out for. A score of 260-270 could be a challenging target on this wicket.
