Sahibzada Farhan wants Pakistan to treat 200 runs as a regular target in T20 internationals after his side sealed an unassailable 2-0 series lead against Sri Lanka with an 82-run win in Rawalpindi on Sunday.
Pakistan posted 215-3, their highest men’s T20I total on home soil, before Muhammad Imran took 3-11 to restrict Sri Lanka to 133-7. The victory gave Farhan his first series triumph as Pakistan captain, with the third match scheduled for Tuesday.
Farhan was confident Pakistan could pass 200 despite a relatively slow start. The hosts reached 46 in the powerplay before he and Maaz Sadaqat transformed the innings with an 88-run stand for the second wicket from 49 balls.
“I was sure that we would end up scoring more than 200 despite not scoring much in the Powerplay,” Farhan said after the match.
The captain made 73 off 44 balls, striking five sixes and four fours. Sadaqat went even harder, hitting seven sixes and six fours in a 51-ball 96, narrowly missing his maiden T20I century when he fell off the final delivery.
Pakistan accelerated late, scoring 70 runs in the last five overs. Sadaqat and Hasan Nawaz added 72 from 31 balls, lifting the hosts beyond their previous highest home T20I total of 208-3 against West Indies in Karachi in 2021.
Farhan believes the team’s more aggressive approach can make such scores routine.
“We have been a different T20I side in 2026 as our six-hitting ratio has improved and our batters are scoring at more than 150,” he said. “If we continue this way, we will end up scoring more than 200 every time.”
Sri Lanka’s chase never gathered momentum. Muhammad Imran claimed three wickets for 11 runs, while Mohammad Salman Mirza took two as the visitors finished well short of the target. Maheesh Theekshana top-scored with an unbeaten 32, but Sri Lanka lost wickets regularly and never threatened Pakistan’s total.
The hosts’ 13 sixes equalled their second-highest tally in a men’s T20I innings. Their 215-3 was also their second-highest overall T20I total, behind the 232-6 they scored against England in Nottingham in 2021.
Farhan said Pakistan would maintain the same intensity in Tuesday’s final match as they look to complete a clean sweep. For the new captain, the series win offers an early reward; for Pakistan, the aim is to make 200 a benchmark rather than a one-off achievement.
